The book not only has the title The World is Flat, but also features a picture of a 'Flat Earth' coin on the cover.
In this book the author, Thomas Friedman, doesn't necessarily speak of the world being geographically flat, but that the earth has become 'flat' due to 'globalization'...
And that technological advancements have leveled the playing field in terms of commerce—that location is less and less important.
In his newer book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, this leveling, or 'flattening' of the world has been caused by the Internet, which brought 3 billion new consumers onto the world stage.
With all that in mind, Friedman sets out the clean-technology breakthroughs we, and the world, will need to flourish on this 'flat' world stage.
It seems that the world is just flat - in so many ways!