Thomas L. Friedman, commonly referred to as Tom Friedman, is an author and foreign-affairs columnist for The New York Times. He has been awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and numerous prestigious awards for his nonfiction.

He has written and lectured extensively on world topics and is best known for his support of a compromise resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, modernization of the Arab world, environmentalism and globalization.

He is a strong advocate for the Green Movement. Despite wide acclaim, his work has received some criticism, most notably from two students at Brown University.

Beginning as a journalist for The New York Times in 1981, Friedman has traveled extensively reporting on the Middle East conflict, the end of the cold war, U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. His bi-weekly foreign affairs columns are syndicated to seven hundred other newspapers around the world. He has won three Pulitzer Prizes between 1983 and 2002; two for international reporting and one for commentary.

Friedman has written four nonfiction books about his experiences. His first, From Beirut to Jerusalem(1990), an account of a decade of reporting in the Middle East, won the National Book Award for non-fiction.

The Lexus and the Olive Tree(2000), a unique look at globalization, won an OPC award for best nonfiction book on foreign policy.

Friedman's third, Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11(2002) is comprised of his columns about 9-11 as well as a personal account of his experiences and reflections on the event and its aftermath. His most recent book, The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century(2007) is an update of his views on globalization including its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements decreasing poverty and its drawbacks.