That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back is a book written by New York times columnist and author Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman

Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.-Personal...

 and Foreign policy John Hopkins Professor Michael Mandelbaum

Michael Mandelbaum

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor and Director of the American Foreign Policy program at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. He is also Director of the SAIS American Foreign Policy program. He has written 10 books on American foreign policy...

, that was published on September 5, 2011 in the United States. It addresses the 4 major problems America faces today and their solution. These problems are: globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption.