For this updated and expanded edition, Friedman has seen his own book in a new w
ay, bringing fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of
the world. New material includes:
- The reasons why the flattening of the worl
d "will be seen in time as one of those fundamental shifts or inflection points,
like Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, the rise of the nation-state,
or the Industrial Revolution"
- An explanation of "uploading" as one of the t
en forces that are flattening the world, as blogging, open-source software, pool
ed knowledge projects like Wikipedia, and podcasting enable individuals to bring
their experiences and opinions to the whole world
- A mapping of the New Midd
le--the places and spaces in the flat world where
middle-class jobs will be fo
und--and portraits of the character types who will find success as New Middlers
-An account of the qualities American parents and teachers need to cultivate i
n young people so that they will be able to thrive in the flat world
-A call f
or a government-led "geo-green" strategy to preserve the environment and natural
resources
-An account of the "globalization of the local": how the flattening
of the world is actually strengthening local and regional identities rather tha
n homogenizing the world
