Thomas L. Friedman is an internationally known author, reporter, and columnist; recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes; and author of seven best-selling books: From Beirut to Jerusalem; The Lexus and the Olive Tree; Longitudes and Attitudes; The World Is Flat; Hot, Flat, and Crowded; That Used to Be Us, which he co-wrote with Michael Mandelbaum and Thank you For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations.

Friedman’s foreign affairs column in The New York Times, which he has written since 1995, reports on US domestic politics and foreign policy, Middle East conflicts, international economics, environment, biodiversity, and energy.