Thomas L. Friedman, a New York Times writer who twice won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Middle East, will speak about "Globalization and U.S. Foreign Policy" at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21, in the auditorium of the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St. The talk, which is free and open to the public, is being held under the auspices of the Coca-Cola World Fund at Yale and is cosponsored by the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, the Law School and the School of Management.
Friedman was a reporter in Beirut for the United Press International before joining the staff of The New York Times in 1981. He became chief of the newspaper's bureau in Beirut just six weeks before the Israeli invasion and in 1984 became chief of the Times' bureau in Jerusalem, serving there for five years. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for his reporting from Lebanon and in 1988 for his work in Israel.
Under the auspices of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Friedman wrote the book "From Beirut to Jerusalem," offering his reflections about the Middle East. The book was on the New York Times bestseller list for one year, and won the 1989 National Book Award for nonfiction and the 1989 Overseas Press Club Award for the best book on foreign policy. "From Beirut to Jerusalem" has been published in 10 different languages, and is now used as a basic textbook on the Middle East in many high schools and universities.
Friedman's other posts at the Times have included serving as a general assignment financial reporter, chief White House correspondent and international economics correspondent. Since 1995, he has been a foreign affairs columnist for the newspaper.
The Coca-Cola World Fund was established with an endowment from the Coca-Cola Foundation to foster cross-disciplinary activities in the study of international relations, law and management. In addition to the annual lecture series, the fund also underwrites courses, faculty and student research and exchanges, and related activities.