Thomas L. Friedman is a world-renowned author and journalist, who joined The New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in OPEC and oil-related news and later served as the chief diplomatic, chief White House, and international economics correspondents. A three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles reporting 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.