The primary theme of the book is Globalization, which Friedman argues is not simply a process, an event, or a fad, but rather a new international system that replaced the old Cold War system after the collapse of the USSR. Globalization has its own logic and rules that affects everyone on the planet, whether they participate or not, and Friedman examines how globalization came to be, how it operates, and the challenges it poses. He defines globalization as:

the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before–in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is enabling the world to reach into individuals, corporations and nation-states farther, faster, deeper, cheaper than ever before. (8)

While the defining feature of the Cold War system was walls and division, the defining feature of globalization is integration and the global market. To Friedman, it is no coincidence that globalization and the internet arose at the same time, as the central logic of globalization is the exact same as the internet: interconnectedness.

To Friedman, globalization is a win-win process, though he is cautious to highlight the backlashes that globalization engenders.