This book is an informative look at current middle east Arab thought from a somewhat unconventional pro-Israel viewpoint, which deserves to be read, but should be supplemented. Friedman is a thoughtful and creative thinker as evidenced by his book The World is Flat. In Longitudes he reprints his newspaper columns from around 9-11 to the time the US invaded Iraq, which at times is repetitive, but gives a good account of his thought development at the time. His main thesis is that Arab anger toward the US stems from bad leaders, bad governments, and not primarily from Israel. His line of reasoning therefore encouraged the nation building policies that led our country into the Iraq debacle. He sees the Palestinian issue as a poor excuse for violence, and 9-11. He blames Arafat for the breakdown in peace talks, though the offer he was given was not at all fair. He implies that Arafat did not work toward peace which is in line with neo conservative thinking. Though he has been criticized by neo conservatives for calling for an end the West Bank settlements, his views still fail to take into consideration the level of importance of the Palestinian issue to Arabs and the gross injustice the Palestinian peoples have through the years have endured at the hands of the Israelis, and their primary benefactor and arms supplier the US. His view doesn't adequately explain the cheering Palestinians on 9-11. He thinks that all the Arabs need to do is form democratic governments, recognize Israel. But Israel continues its repressive policies toward Palestinians. The solution to the Palestinian problem is going to require more than democracy. Note that Israel bombed the civilian population democratic country of Lebanon with cluster bombs in 2006 with full US support. Read this book, but also read The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by Mearsheimer and Walt which outlines the degree to which the Israel lobby and US neo conservative policy has supported Israel's aggression. Then you will understand the problem.

I've read every book that Thomas Friedman has written, and they are all exceptional. Friedman seems to meet everybody significant regarding the subject at hand, and has listened with an open mind. He thinks outside the box, and the proposed solutions he comes up make a lot of sense. His reporting is extremely well-balanced and done with great heart. His documentaries on TV are of equal caliber.

I only wish Tom Friedman worked in our government, however, maybe he would then be less influential than as a writer.....I find I agree with 90% of what he says.....Brillant....

Any thoughtful person will be outraged by at least a few of these essays. I cannot tell which ones those will be--because, dear reader, I do not know your politics. I do know that when it comes to the Middle East, everyone seems to have an opinion and as Thomas Friedman in this book challenges virtually all of the commonly-held ones (on the left and the right alike) it is quite likely that you, like me, will mutter over some essay "You utter idiot." But I hope you won't put the book down.

For Thomas Friedman (unlike so many) has the courage to gaze into the heart of darkness in the Middle East that made 9/11, the Islamists' war against the West, and their war against the Jews possible. And Thomas Friedman reports what he sees.

He tells us that our Arab partners do not present "an alternative positive view of America [in their countries]--even though they were sending their kids here to be educated." He tells us that "the terrorists can exploit the Interned.. but in their suffocated world.. they could never invent it." He tells us that "these terrorists aren't out for a new kind of coexistence with us. They are out for our nonexistence." He tells about how a friendship with an Arab Muslim intellectual disappeared when the intellectual questioned him about how Jews run the world and he tells us how frustrated the Jordanians are that the intifada and not the remarkable Jordanian reforms are dominating Jordanian news.

In short, Thomas Freidman refuses to conform to facile "truths" of today; he refuses to look away. You may, at times find him frustrating and angry; you may get angry with him. But you will not find him substituting fashionable ideology for what he sees. For that reason, I recommend his book.

I normally don't read non-fiction books about world affairs, maybe because I suspect the author has a hidden agenda, and after reading this book I still feel the same way. I have heard Thomas Friedman a few times on NPR being interviewed by Terry Gross and found what he has to say captivating. Once finding myself staying in my car 20 minutes extra to listen to the end of the conversation. As for this review; I might enjoy his later books more, this one was written in 2001 - 2002 and felt a lot like backtracking in the past. Still interesting enough to recommend.

Liked its collections on the Iranian society after the terror attacks of 9/11 very much. Recommended reading for those who would like to know what's going in other countries in the post 9/11 world, especially in the middle-east. Things have changed a lot. Very well-researched.

Perfect book for those that want to learn about the issues going on in the Middle East. Easy to understand for those not that familiar with current world issues. Very informative and I would highly recommend.

In Longitudes and Attitudes, Friedman pulls writings from his column at the New York Times that describes his position on what he calls, "the super-story." There are two important components to this book that will stick with me: the first is his belief that globalization has paved the way for an individual to influence the masses, and the second is that even in "friendly" nations, there are fundamental, cultural and religious differences that influence a negative perception of the United States... and we need to pay attention to this.

Friedman substantiates his insightful conjectures by traveling the world and tapping into each individual society. He asks tough questions and receives harsh ridicule. This type of substantive journalism is what makes his writing so multi-dimensional... It's not merely his opinion, but the opinions of citizens around the world... and they offer a clear understanding.

There is a pile of information to absorb, so take your time with it (I read about ten to fifteen pages at a time). You'll get some history, you'll get some opinions, and most importantly, you might get a new perspective.

Have fun,

David Tobias
Redondo Beach, CA

I was not familiar with Thomas Friedman's New York Times columns. This book contains a sampling of his columns. The book mainly portrays the difference in the Arab vs. the culture of the West. The book opens with the shock of the events of 9/11, considered a tragedy by the West and a cause for celebration for many places in the Arab and Muslim world.
The author goes onto explain the Arab world's rage against America is the result of the idea that America represents, globalization , modernity, plurality. Muslim populations in the middle east are generally ruled by oppressive regimes that are failing their populace, providing a limited world vision, while censoring information. The author made an interesting observation, India has the second largest Muslim population of any country in the world, but the Muslim rage in not present, as the author notes, chanting "death to America" is not the favored occupation of its populace. The reason, India is a democracy, the people are concerned with bettering themselves through government.
And so it goes, The author's main point is that when the Middle East can be democratized, and the poverty alleviated it will be ready to join the modern world.
I really believe Tom Freidman is right on target with the ideas within this book.

Friedman's writing is consistently thoughtful, and this book is no exception. I appreciate deeply the care with which this book has been prepared. It belongs in every thinking person's library.

Friedman's writing is consistently thoughtful, and this book is no exception. I appreciate deeply the care with which this book has been prepared. It belongs in every thinking person's library.

Thomas Friedman's "Longitudes and Attitudes" is a very readable book based on a collection of columns he wrote for the New York Times just before the attacks of 9/11 and for the year following those attacks. The last quarter of the book contains a kind of diary in which he attempts to put into context where he was in the world when he wrote these columns and how he was personally feeling at the time.

It is a very personal collection, often invoking the image of his children's future. Friedman's primary mission, as he relates it in meetings with educated people across the Middle East, is his search for the rationale of the terrorists, why they killed, and how they were radicalized. He frequently relates how depressed he got when talking to educated Middle Easterners who unflinchingly believed in conspiracy theories of the highest order. The most common canard he constantly ran across was that four thousand Jews were notified on the morning of 9/11 not to go to the World Trade Towers. Another astonishing "fact" he constantly confronted from academics, clerics and the media in the Middle East was that there is no proof that Muslims were the 9/11 hijackers in the first place. In general, Friedman relates, most Muslims in the Middle East also believe that the attack was a plot by the CIA (or Jews) to discredit Muslims and that all the American media is run by Jews.

Throughout the book, Friedman does not shy away from the fact that he is Jewish. He is balanced and critical of both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - decrying the brutality of the Israelis and Palestinians and he especially singles out the stubbornness of Arafat in that Arab leader's failure to accept the Clinton peace plan, which would have given Palestinians a state encompassing 95% of what they asked for and could have stanched the bloodshed.

Friedman relates his amazement that the Middle East is bombarded by an incessant 24-hour-a-day attack in the Arab media upon Israel and the United States, particularly via TV programs that run through the night simply playing martial music and showing images of Israeli brutality against Palestinians - which is always portrayed as one-sided.

He is unabashedly and constantly critical of the Saudi Arabia regime, from which, we are frequently reminded, was home to 15 of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers. Friedman seems particularly upset that Saudi Arabia did not apologize for the involvement of its nationals in the attack against the US and has refused to cooperate with the FBI in their investigation. He also makes it abundantly clear that Saudi Arabia, along with Iran, seem to be in a race to provide money to Islamic madras's across the globe that teach virulent intolerance and hatred against America and Israel.

Friedman doesn't simpy rail against the world as he sees it, he does prescribe some remedies for what he refers to as an ongoing "Clash of Civilizations," a term he borrows from Samuel Huntington. If we don't address the tumult we find ourselves in and Usama bin Laden "wins," Friedman warns us that, "The war of civilizations will be coming to a theater near to you."

First and foremost, he calls upon Arab nations to forge a new future for their citizens by letting go of the past and looking to the future. Too often Arab nations and leaders deflect true change by blaming all their troubles on someone else... their problems are America's fault, or Bush's fault, or Israel's fault and so on ad infinitum. True leaders in the Middle East should create plans for the future, not just laying blame for present and past real and perceived slights. Arab leaders should come up with plans for educating their children, making governments more responsive and creating jobs for the exploding number of young people in the Middle East. Friedman goads Arab leaders by saying things such as, while other emerging nations "make microchips, you are making potato chips," and that the GDP of Spain is greater than that of all 22 Arab states combined.

Friedman could be called a liberal hawk. He firmly believes in globalization, with a caveat that the Internet can be "an open sewer." He also believes that the concept of engaging and talking with your enemy is the only way that problems can truly be resolved. An example: The U.S. and Israel engaged Arafat and came up with a plan that gave the Palestinians a state encompassing 95% of what they wanted. This pleased Friedman the liberal. Arafat torched the olive branch that was extended to him and Friedman the hawk reminds us that Arafat had many maps that did not even show modern Israel on them. Friedman the hawk also applauded the fall of Saddam from a humanitarian viewpoint (reminding us that Saddam killed more Muslims in the 20th century than any other individual) and asked his readers to "give the CIA a break," and "give war a chance."

One of the most important ideas this book relates is that, unlike Christianity and the Jewish faith, Islam never went though Enlightenment or a Reformation. What this means is that Islam never separated church and state the way that the West has done and therefore Islam has not been able to move its society and culture forward because of the constant influence of clerics who can't effectively run a modern nation.

Lastly, the last quarter of the book that was written in a diary format was primarily a rehash of ideas spelled out earlier in the book - merely reformatted to fit the geographic contours of where and when Friedman wrote his columns. This part of the book added little new information and seemed that it was almost an afterthought... an awkward attempt to tie together all the canned columns.

Thomas Friedman's "Longitudes and Attitudes" is a very readable book based on a collection of columns he wrote for the New York Times just before the attacks of 9/11 and for the year following those attacks. The last quarter of the book contains a kind of diary in which he attempts to put into context where he was in the world when he wrote these columns and how he was personally feeling at the time.

It is a very personal collection, often invoking the image of his children's future. Friedman's primary mission, as he relates it in meetings with educated people across the Middle East, is his search for the rationale of the terrorists, why they killed, and how they were radicalized. He frequently relates how depressed he got when talking to educated Middle Easterners who unflinchingly believed in conspiracy theories of the highest order. The most common canard he constantly ran across was that four thousand Jews were notified on the morning of 9/11 not to go to the World Trade Towers. Another astonishing "fact" he constantly confronted from academics, clerics and the media in the Middle East was that there is no proof that Muslims were the 9/11 hijackers in the first place. In general, Friedman relates, most Muslims in the Middle East also believe that the attack was a plot by the CIA (or Jews) to discredit Muslims and that all the American media is run by Jews.

Throughout the book, Friedman does not shy away from the fact that he is Jewish. He is balanced and critical of both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - decrying the brutality of the Israelis and Palestinians and he especially singles out the stubbornness of Arafat in that Arab leader's failure to accept the Clinton peace plan, which would have given Palestinians a state encompassing 95% of what they asked for and could have stanched the bloodshed.

Friedman relates his amazement that the Middle East is bombarded by an incessant 24-hour-a-day attack in the Arab media upon Israel and the United States, particularly via TV programs that run through the night simply playing martial music and showing images of Israeli brutality against Palestinians - which is always portrayed as one-sided.

He is unabashedly and constantly critical of the Saudi Arabia regime, from which, we are frequently reminded, was home to 15 of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers. Friedman seems particularly upset that Saudi Arabia did not apologize for the involvement of its nationals in the attack against the US and has refused to cooperate with the FBI in their investigation. He also makes it abundantly clear that Saudi Arabia, along with Iran, seem to be in a race to provide money to Islamic madras's across the globe that teach virulent intolerance and hatred against America and Israel.

Friedman doesn't simpy rail against the world as he sees it, he does prescribe some remedies for what he refers to as an ongoing "Clash of Civilizations," a term he borrows from Samuel Huntington. If we don't address the tumult we find ourselves in and Usama bin Laden "wins," Friedman warns us that, "The war of civilizations will be coming to a theater near to you."

First and foremost, he calls upon Arab nations to forge a new future for their citizens by letting go of the past and looking to the future. Too often Arab nations and leaders deflect true change by blaming all their troubles on someone else... their problems are America's fault, or Bush's fault, or Israel's fault and so on ad infinitum. True leaders in the Middle East should create plans for the future, not just laying blame for present and past real and perceived slights. Arab leaders should come up with plans for educating their children, making governments more responsive and creating jobs for the exploding number of young people in the Middle East. Friedman goads Arab leaders by saying things such as, while other emerging nations "make microchips, you are making potato chips," and that the GDP of Spain is greater than that of all 22 Arab states combined.

Friedman could be called a liberal hawk. He firmly believes in globalization, with a caveat that the Internet can be "an open sewer." He also believes that the concept of engaging and talking with your enemy is the only way that problems can truly be resolved. An example: The U.S. and Israel engaged Arafat and came up with a plan that gave the Palestinians a state encompassing 95% of what they wanted. This pleased Friedman the liberal. Arafat torched the olive branch that was extended to him and Friedman the hawk reminds us that Arafat had many maps that did not even show modern Israel on them. Friedman the hawk also applauded the fall of Saddam from a humanitarian viewpoint (reminding us that Saddam killed more Muslims in the 20th century than any other individual) and asked his readers to "give the CIA a break," and "give war a chance."

One of the most important ideas this book relates is that, unlike Christianity and the Jewish faith, Islam never went though Enlightenment or a Reformation. What this means is that Islam never separated church and state the way that the West has done and therefore Islam has not been able to move its society and culture forward because of the constant influence of clerics who can't effectively run a modern nation.

Lastly, the last quarter of the book that was written in a diary format was primarily a rehash of ideas spelled out earlier in the book - merely reformatted to fit the geographic contours of where and when Friedman wrote his columns. This part of the book added little new information and seemed that it was almost an afterthought... an awkward attempt to tie together all the canned columns.

This book is a collection of newspaper columns and journal entries that Friedman wrote before and after the September 11th attacks. Friedman is very familiar with the Middle East, having been a news correspondent in Beirut and Jerusalem for ten years before becoming foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. Although he himself had stressed that one consequence of globalization has been the creation of super-empowered individuals with a grudge against the United States, and that bin Laden was just such an individual (The Lexus and the Olive Tree), even Friedman did not see it coming on September 11th, 2001. This book features reprints of Friedman's columns analyzing the reasons why the September 11th attacks happened, and the reaction in the following months throughout the Islamic world. The book also includes a short journal section, in which Friedman describes his travels in the Middle East while he was collecting material for his columns.

The events of September 11th 2001 found me and my husband in a Lebanese restaurant in the Dubai neighborhood where we had been living for four years. The waiters were listening to the radio, and from all the cheers and excitement, we thought some Arab country was winning a World Cup soccer match against a European powerhouse. But the waiters wouldn't look at us. Finally one came over and with a face that alternated between embarrassment, concern, and glee, told us something big had happened in the U.S. We went home immediately to check the news on CNN. The following day, Western-educated Arab colleagues would give us their condolences, but not long afterwards, every one of them told us they believed the CIA and Mossad were behind the attacks, and that no Arabs were involved. Bin Laden's face appeared on the wallpaper of my Emirati students' computers and cell phones-for them he was clearly a hero, not a demon. In seeking to understand the events, I read the newspaper daily, and was amazed that Friedman, with a New York byline, could be so well informed about what we were seeing all around us. While I don't agree with everything that Friedman espouses in this book, I think his analysis of the Muslim world following September 11th is about as accurate as any Western journalist could develop.

Friedman is a fierce patriot, for all the right reasons. He lived overseas long enough to appreciate the qualities that make America great. He reminds us that "American power and wealth flow directly from a deep spiritual source-a spirit of respect for the individual, a spirit of tolerance for differences of faith or politics, a respect for freedom of thought as the necessary foundation for all creativity, and a spirit of unity that encompasses all kinds of differences...Lord knows, ours is hardly a perfect country. Many times we have deviated from the American spirit or applied it selfishly. But it is because we come back to this spirit more times than not, in more communities than not, that our country remains both strong and renewable." Friedman notes, "It will be a tragedy if Arabs and Muslims adopt the position that there is no conceivable reason why Americans might be upset with them today and that any criticism they face in the U.S. media is entirely the result of some Jewish campaign of vilification....Whenever a people reduces all its problems to a conspiracy by someone else, it absolves itself and its leaders of any responsibility for its predicament-and any need for self-examination... No civilization has ever prospered with that approach...Only in a society that embraces self-criticism can the political process produce real facts to cope with real problems....The standard view of America in the Arab-Muslim world is that America is rich and powerful because it is crass and materialistic...The truth is exactly the opposite. America is successful and wealthy because of its values, not despite them. It is prosperous because of the way it respects freedom, individualism, and women's rights and the way it nurtures creativity and experimentation."

According to Friedman, although Arabs will point to US support for Israel as the reason behind the anger against the US, the real reasons for Arab anger come down to stagnating domestic Arab economies and hard-line autocratic governments which permit anger to be expressed only about the occupation of Palestine. He notes how governments support hate-mongering imams, and how the Arabic media presents images of Israeli violence unceasingly on television. Thus, even those who are not drawn to religious institutions are kept perpetually angry, but their anger is safely diverted from domestic issues. In an October, 2001 column, Friedman points out "Since September 11, the President of the United States has given several speeches about how Islam is a tolerant religion, with no core hostility to the West. But the leader of Saudi Arabia, the keeper of the Muslim holy places, hasn't given one."

In trying to understand the deeper message of 9/11, Friedman writes "while the world is being globalized, shrunk, and tied together ever more closely in technological terms, this has not been accompanied by a better mutual understanding between cultures, countries and civilizations. There is a mismatch. We are technologically closer-and culturally and politically as far apart as ever, at least among certain communities." In one of my favorite columns of the book, "Changing the Channel," Friedman presents a tongue-in-cheek analysis of why watching the Golf Channel is a lot more fun than watching the news from the Middle East. When I returned home from the Middle East myself, my first inclination was to wall myself off from news about the region because it made me angry. But Friedman argues this is counter-productive. "In the long term, the only answer is to figure out ways to change the attitudes and intentions of the people on the other side of the wall, or at least narrow the gap between differing cultures and political traditions so we can share this shrinking planet." That's a challenging undertaking.

This book is a collection of newspaper columns and journal entries that Friedman wrote before and after the September 11th attacks. Friedman is very familiar with the Middle East, having been a news correspondent in Beirut and Jerusalem for ten years before becoming foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. Although he himself had stressed that one consequence of globalization has been the creation of super-empowered individuals with a grudge against the United States, and that bin Laden was just such an individual (The Lexus and the Olive Tree), even Friedman did not see it coming on September 11th, 2001. This book features reprints of Friedman's columns analyzing the reasons why the September 11th attacks happened, and the reaction in the following months throughout the Islamic world. The book also includes a short journal section, in which Friedman describes his travels in the Middle East while he was collecting material for his columns.

The events of September 11th 2001 found me and my husband in a Lebanese restaurant in the Dubai neighborhood where we had been living for four years. The waiters were listening to the radio, and from all the cheers and excitement, we thought some Arab country was winning a World Cup soccer match against a European powerhouse. But the waiters wouldn't look at us. Finally one came over and with a face that alternated between embarrassment, concern, and glee, told us something big had happened in the U.S. We went home immediately to check the news on CNN. The following day, Western-educated Arab colleagues would give us their condolences, but not long afterwards, every one of them told us they believed the CIA and Mossad were behind the attacks, and that no Arabs were involved. Bin Laden's face appeared on the wallpaper of my Emirati students' computers and cell phones-for them he was clearly a hero, not a demon. In seeking to understand the events, I read the newspaper daily, and was amazed that Friedman, with a New York byline, could be so well informed about what we were seeing all around us. While I don't agree with everything that Friedman espouses in this book, I think his analysis of the Muslim world following September 11th is about as accurate as any Western journalist could develop.

Friedman is a fierce patriot, for all the right reasons. He lived overseas long enough to appreciate the qualities that make America great. He reminds us that "American power and wealth flow directly from a deep spiritual source-a spirit of respect for the individual, a spirit of tolerance for differences of faith or politics, a respect for freedom of thought as the necessary foundation for all creativity, and a spirit of unity that encompasses all kinds of differences...Lord knows, ours is hardly a perfect country. Many times we have deviated from the American spirit or applied it selfishly. But it is because we come back to this spirit more times than not, in more communities than not, that our country remains both strong and renewable." Friedman notes, "It will be a tragedy if Arabs and Muslims adopt the position that there is no conceivable reason why Americans might be upset with them today and that any criticism they face in the U.S. media is entirely the result of some Jewish campaign of vilification....Whenever a people reduces all its problems to a conspiracy by someone else, it absolves itself and its leaders of any responsibility for its predicament-and any need for self-examination... No civilization has ever prospered with that approach...Only in a society that embraces self-criticism can the political process produce real facts to cope with real problems....The standard view of America in the Arab-Muslim world is that America is rich and powerful because it is crass and materialistic...The truth is exactly the opposite. America is successful and wealthy because of its values, not despite them. It is prosperous because of the way it respects freedom, individualism, and women's rights and the way it nurtures creativity and experimentation."

According to Friedman, although Arabs will point to US support for Israel as the reason behind the anger against the US, the real reasons for Arab anger come down to stagnating domestic Arab economies and hard-line autocratic governments which permit anger to be expressed only about the occupation of Palestine. He notes how governments support hate-mongering imams, and how the Arabic media presents images of Israeli violence unceasingly on television. Thus, even those who are not drawn to religious institutions are kept perpetually angry, but their anger is safely diverted from domestic issues. In an October, 2001 column, Friedman points out "Since September 11, the President of the United States has given several speeches about how Islam is a tolerant religion, with no core hostility to the West. But the leader of Saudi Arabia, the keeper of the Muslim holy places, hasn't given one."

In trying to understand the deeper message of 9/11, Friedman writes "while the world is being globalized, shrunk, and tied together ever more closely in technological terms, this has not been accompanied by a better mutual understanding between cultures, countries and civilizations. There is a mismatch. We are technologically closer-and culturally and politically as far apart as ever, at least among certain communities." In one of my favorite columns of the book, "Changing the Channel," Friedman presents a tongue-in-cheek analysis of why watching the Golf Channel is a lot more fun than watching the news from the Middle East. When I returned home from the Middle East myself, my first inclination was to wall myself off from news about the region because it made me angry. But Friedman argues this is counter-productive. "In the long term, the only answer is to figure out ways to change the attitudes and intentions of the people on the other side of the wall, or at least narrow the gap between differing cultures and political traditions so we can share this shrinking planet." That's a challenging undertaking.

I remember back in the day when I was a blind follower of Michael Moore and Al Franken thinking that Tom Friedman was some right wing jerk. For no real reason either, he just seemed to fit that mold to an extremely naive liberal. It certainly makes me uncomfortable to think back to those days, because I am now a pragmatic and realistic moderate and I certainly had Friedman pegged wrong (and also because I now realize Moore and Franken are mostly useless).

Longitudes and Attitudes is a collection of Friedman's New York Times columns from 9/11/01 to 4/20/03 plus a short travel diary at the end that takes some of the stories from the columns and fleshes them out a bit to provide more details and context. The book's format makes it amazingly easy to read and Friedman's writing style is superb. He does a fantastic job at communicating his ideas in an easy to understand fashion.

I didn't agree with everything he said in these columns, but he really made me think about what I thought about certain issues. I think that's the sign of a great writer and analyst. Especially when I think of the subject matter he writes about, I'm glad someone like Friedman is out there because I really do think that if more people in America read his books and columns with an open mind, this country would be better off for it.

My only real complaint that I feel warranted mentioning here is that Friedman hinted several times at the lack of Muslim response to 9/11, as if there were no Muslims that condemned the attacks. I'm sure Friedman talked to a great many people all over the world, but there were quite a few Muslim sources of outrage and condemnation after 9/11. I wish he would have perhaps looked a little harder to find them.

I think this would be a great book for anyone even remotely interested about terrorism, foreign policy, etc. to read. I certainly plan on reading the rest of his books and look forward to what he will produce in the future.

When I bought this book, I didn't realize it was mostly just a consolidated writing of Friedman's collumns in the Times. I think Friedman is a great author with lots of great insights, but he isn't able to go into his ideas in depth as much as I would have liked in a bunch of detached 750-1000 word segments. Since the sections are arranged chronologically, there also isn't the opportunity to tie the themes together.

If you really like Friedman, then it's worth a read, but if you are in it for just one, I'd read The Lexus and the Olive Tree first. It is by far his best.

Tom Friedman is a engaging writer. He also writes from a very personal perspective, both as to how the world has changed for him and his family, and for his friends around the world. You get the feeling that Mr. Friedman is describing the world changing as he is watching. What a treat and a very easy read. Pick it up and learn about what is really going on outside the US shores.

Tom Friedman has a regular column in the new york times. I have always loved his columns and this book is excellent (It is actually a collection of his NY Times columns). A must read for anyone who is interested in politics in the middle east, terrorism and its origin and the iraq war.

Tom Friedman's writing style is easy to read and his overarching concepts-webs and walls; states v. markets v. individuals; and the comprehensive failure of the Arab street, leadership and Muslim clergy to combat the really tough and valid questions of the day-are extremely well thought-out. From reading this compilation of NYT columns, I understand where Friedman conceived many of his ideas for his current best-selling book, 'The World is Flat.' Although I sometimes disagree with his opinions, his ability to see the big picture is spot on.

may not make you wise.

My immediate response right after finishing the last page of this book: Had the author published a new book after this? To my very disappointment, the answer is negative.

I am a Chinese living in Hong Kong who knew very little about the Middle East beforehand. This book is really an eye opener to me. I couldnt imagine that in 2002, "There are now 84,000 prostitutes operating on the streets of Tehran and 250 brothels, ... 60 new runaway girls hitting Tehran's streets everyday...Forty percent of all drug addicted women in Iranian prisons have AIDS...Unemployment which is already around 30 percent) is steadily rising." pg 280

Of course this book is not about showing bad looking statistics from credible Middle East sources. It preached viable solutions that Bush had not adopted. To name a few: "Frankly, I hope Saddam disappears tomorrow. But even if he does, that's not going to solve our problem. Saddam is a conventional threat who can be eliminated by conventional means. He inspires no one. The idea people who inspired the hijackers are religious leaders, pseudo-intellectuals, pundits and educators, primiarily in Eygpt and in Saudia Arabia, which continues to use its vast oil wealth to spread its austere and intolerant brand of Islam, Wahabism. June 2002." Pg 265 and "If we've learned one thing since 9/11, it's that terrorism is not produced by the poverty of money. It's produced by the poverity of dignity. It is about young middle class Arabs and Muslims feeling trapped in countries with too few good jobs and too few opportunities to realize their potential or shape their own future - and blaming America for it. We have to break the cycle...June 2002." Pg 270

To counter the pro American impression from the examples I quoted above, "This is not to say that US policy is blameless. We do bad things sometimes. But why is it that only Muslims react to our bad policies with suicidal terrorism, not Mexians or Chinese? Is it because ...Jews could not be so strong on their own...the United States created and supports Israel? Mar 2002" Pg 197 and "Mr. Bush has repeatedly told the world: If you're not with us, you're against us. He needs to remember this: The rest of the world is saying the same thing to us. March 2002" Pg 207

In short, a well written book of wisdom. It's ideas are really true, useful and can pass the test of time, especially after the bombings in London last Thursday. Dont miss it.

A collection of columns does not necessary yield a good book not even with some extra material thrown in at the end. As a long time NYT reader I must have read most of these columns when they appeared (and forgotten like most of the newspaper stuff), but in a book they do get an added value and become an evolving story, Friedman is very consistent, and the plot he follows is better than fiction.
A column gives opinions in a quick reaction to events, a book should give insights and analysis. Despite this shortcoming, this book makes interesting reading, even 3 years after the facts, to get insight in how America felt before and after the events of 9/11. Friedman is very much a man of the middle and a man for whom many doors open and who is capable of listening to a wide variety of opinions. His insights in the 'other side' are impressive but he never abandons the Jewish-American standpoint, he knows and shows who he is but never to the point of single-mindedness. With hindsight Friedman has been right on many issues, which proves that he knows the Middle-East better than most.

This book is destined to be a primary work on the 9/11 tragedy simply because of its grand view,and compelling look at the dynmaic world scene.

Thomas L. Friedman has written a book no other journalist or author could have written. In many ways this book is the logical extension of From Beirut to Jerusalem, and The Lexus and the Olive Tree because the themes, plots, and subplots are so intricately woven, and spun so tightly together as to be indistinguishable.

The three can literally be taken as a trilogy because the Israeli-Paletinian conflict has riveted the nations of the world to the Middle East, globalization has exacerbated the tensions contained therin, and 9/11 gave vent to "super-empowered individuals" who started a whole new type of conflict, World War III, which involves the unresolved issues festering in the Arab street over Israel, what technology hath wrought, how the Arabs have not kept apace w/globalization. Friedman weaves a beautiful tapestry in Longitudes and Attitudes that will hold the reader spellbound.

A highly recommended read that will help the reader keep abreast of a quickly changing world scene.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas L Friedman knows the Middle East. Not just because he's been stationed there as a New York Times Affairs Desk columnist for over a decade, but more because he's one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and progressive political thinkers of our time.

Longitudes and Attitudes is a collection of columns divided up into 3 parts: Part One consists of pre-9/11 columns, Part 2, post-9/11 columns, and Part 3 his diary of the tumultous times immediately after 9/11.

Each column is about 750 words. Each make a clear and important point (whether you agree with him or not). And together, they'll give the average reader a massive boost in understanding as it relates to:

1. The Palestinian Isreali confict

2. The moral, social, and philisophical topography of the Middle East, and,

3. Ideas on how to intervene (both nationally and internationally) with the "Middle East problem"; that is, terrorism, fanaticism, and economic plight.

Unorthodox, intelligent, daring, and always interesting, T. Friedman has been an important voice out of the Middle East for some time now. Longitudes and Attitudes is a well organized opportunity for the average reader to benefit from it.

Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California

I like Thomas Friedman. In fact the way he writes makes me think that the two of us would have a grand time together, maybe over dinner as we discussed and laughed over world affairs. That's the kind of writer Friedman is, he makes you feel at ease as he discusses major global changing events with a seemlying simplistic common sense style.

If you aren't familiar with Friedman's colums in the New York Times, but want to understand better a post 9-11 world...this book is you opportunity. "Longitudes" is a collection of his colums, most of which focus on mid-east realtionships. Friedman doesn't hold back. When it comes to the central problem of Islamic extremist, the Arabs offen ignore the problem while the U.S. offen exploits it...or did until 9-11. Today, everyone seems to not fully understand the new world they now live in.

The down side of Friedman is that he can be a little repeative and preachy. His solutions are sound but sometimes don't take everything into consideration. Also if you've been reading his work, this book may offer nothing new to you. Still, to sit down and read or re-read this collection of his work from Dec 15th 2000 to July 3rd 2002 is to expose yourself (in a relatively short period of time) to the begining...when the world was torn in two. Friedman still thinks it can be fixed and maybe that's what I like about him the most.

I listened to the book on CD. After 9/11 a lot of us have been left with a lot of questions which basically boil down to why did this happen. Thomas Friedman dispells many of the rumors and innuendoes that have pervaded the American psyche and pursues the answers here. Why do so many in the muslim nations hate the United States? What does the Palestinian-Isreali conflict have to do with American relations with each and every middle eastern country? What faults in the education/information systems and personal attitudes within these muslim nations contribute to the problem? If these questions, and many like them, have been on your mind and you are ready for some reasonable rationality for them, then this is the book for you.