In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas L.Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs columnist for the The New York Times, offers an engrossing look at the new international system that is transforming world affairs today. With vivid stories drawn from his extensive travels, he dramatizes the conflict of "The Lexus and the olive tree" - the tension between the globalization system and the ancient forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community. He also details the powerful backlash that globalization produces among those who feel brutalized by it, and he gives us the clue to keep the Lexus and the olive tree in balance. (Paperback)