World “flatness,” the most significant theme of the book, is a way of referring to globalization. But Friedman distinguishes it as “Globalization 3.0.” Two previous versions of globalization, he writes, helped to make the world a little smaller, figuratively speaking. The first focused on nations and the second focused on companies. This third version of flat-world globalization is focused on individuals, and it has shrunk the world to a “tiny” size. Starting at the end of the 20th century, many barriers began to fall away, and more areas of the world opened up. More people around the world now have the opportunity to participate in the global economy thanks to the spread of computing tools, the Internet, and the digitization of information.

Flatness refers to the lack of barriers keeping the world from connecting. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani inspired the term when he told Friedman that technology and connectivity was leveling the playing field for workers in India (7).

Friedman uses the idea of a flat world metaphorically in his introduction. He contrasts his travels eastward around the world to report on the world’s figurative flatness with Christopher Columbus’s 15th-century westward sea voyages that confirmed the earth was round.