Portrait of Thomas Friedman
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Thomas Friedman

American columnist and author

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A New York Times columnist and author of The World Is Flat who champions globalization, technology and clean energy.

Thomas Friedman sits in the right-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: leaning free market and slightly libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly institutional on institutions, strongly globalist on nation and strongly tech-optimist on technology.

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Where Thomas Friedman sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyLeaning free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authoritySlightly libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationStrongly globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyStrongly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceLeaning strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionSlightly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismStrongly interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Thomas Friedman

Fareed Zakaria Indian-American journalist99%Anne Applebaum American-Polish journalist and historian99%Guy Verhofstadt Prime Minister of Belgium, 1999 to 200899%Donald Tusk Prime Minister of Poland, 2007 to 2014 and 2023 to present99%Francis Fukuyama American political scientist99%Jens Stoltenberg Prime Minister of Norway and NATO Secretary General99%Mario Draghi Prime Minister of Italy, 2021 to 202298%Bob Hawke Prime Minister of Australia, 1983 to 199198%

People furthest from Thomas Friedman

Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist and moral thinker, 1828 to 191010%Dorothy Day American journalist and Catholic Worker founder, 1897 to 198011%Jair Bolsonaro President of Brazil, 2019 to 202212%Hibatullah Akhundzada Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, 2021 to present13%

Political views closest to Thomas Friedman

Liberal internationalismBacks a rules-based world order of alliances, trade and institutions to keep the peace.99%Third Way centrismCombines market economics with moderate social policy and pragmatic problem solving.99%European federalismWants Europe's states to pool sovereignty into a shared democratic federation.98%Humanitarian interventionismHolds that outside powers may use force to stop genocide and mass atrocities, even…98%

Read more about Thomas Friedman

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Biographies of Thomas FriedmanBooks on liberal internationalism

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Charles Haynes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.