• 28 May, 11.30am

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The World Is Flat

Observing that nations with strong trading links don't make war on each other, New York Times columnist Friedman argues that if our societies can adapt quickly enough, globalisation promises a brave new era of cooperation, with India and China leading a boom in the East.

Hailed by some as brilliantly forward-thinking, The World Is Flat: A brief history of the 21st century has been criticised by others for ignoring global trade's reliance on cheap labour. Either way, the chapter in which Friedman traces the origins of a Dell computer's components, and how far and fast they have travelled, is bravura stuff.

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