The Lexus and the Olive Tree

The Lexus and the Olive Tree is a nonfiction work by Thomas L Friedman, a New York Times foreign affairs reporter turned opinion columnist. Friedman has won three Pulitzer Prizes for General Non-Fiction and won the National Book Award for From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989), his memoir about reporting Middle East relations. He is also notable for his 2005 book, The World Is Flat, which focuses on many of the same themes as The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux first published The Lexus and the Olive Tree in 1999 and then released a revised and expanded edition in 2000. In the book, Friedman argues that globalization, rather than being a trend or a fad, is a new international system that replaced the Cold War system. Friedman posits that understanding globalization as a system is key to survival in this new era for countries, companies, and individuals.

The book’s title refers to what Friedman believes are the two defining symbols of globalization: The Lexus represents the desire for prosperity, achieved by adapting to globalization, and the Olive Tree represents the desire to cling to a stable sense of identity and belonging in the face of rapid economic, political, and cultural changes.

Friedman divides the book into four major sections. The first examines the emergence of the globalization system and defines its key features, particularly in contrast to the Cold War system which it replaced. The second section describes how countries and companies should “choose prosperity” in this new system to survive and thrive. The third section examines the political, economic, cultural, and environmental backlashes against globalization, as well as the groundswell against these backlashes. The final section argues that America is unique in its success in the globalization system and thus has a unique responsibility to ensure its continued stability.