Thomas Friedman is an opinion journalist who works for the New York Times. He often writes on issues concerning the Middle East, but focuses more on America and other foreign countries like China. He is Jewish, educated and sixty years old. His experiences as a teenager and the way he was raised influence the way he writes and are the reason he focuses on foreign affairs for The New York Times. He has also focused more recently on a green revolution that must happen soon. Thomas Friedman's passion for environmentalism grew out of his passion for the Middle East, as he saw that the world is not on a stable path and change needs to be made quickly. Thomas Friedman's background is essential to understanding his subjects and his writing style. Thomas Friedman was born in Minnesota in 1953. He grew up in a Jewish family and attended Hebrew school five times a week before high school. He began his passion for journalism while writing for his high school newspaper, and he first became interested in the Middle East during a Christmas trip to Israel at the age of fifteen. which sparked a passion in him that still drives him today. . After high school, he did very well in college and graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a degree in Mediterranean studies. He then completed a Master of Philosophy in Middle Eastern Studies at St Antony's College, Oxford. He then pursued a career in journalism after completing his degrees (Biography). The source of his passion for the Middle East is obvious, but less obvious is how he also became passionate about environmentalism. He wrote a New York Times bestseller called The World is Flat, which dealt with the rise of middle-ground countries, leading him to also be passionate about his own country. His travels, due to his passions and his work, have allowed him to see the world and the state in which it finds itself. He sees the current trend the world is heading towards and realizes that a revolution must happen. He also sees it as a way for the United States to benefit and develop. At the end of his book he states: "We must redefine green and rediscover America and, in doing so, rediscover ourselves and what it means to be Americans...if we rise to the challenge [of a revolution] and let us truly become the Re-generation – redefine green and rediscover, revive and regenerate America – we, and the world, will not only survive but thrive in a hot, flat, crowded age” (412). He believes there is just enough time, if we start now, to save the world from the path it is headed...