[projektfu]

You are referring to a different Times columnist, writing 4 years before Krugman worked for the Times.

"In 1996, columnist Thomas Friedman came up with what is known as the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention, the notion that no two countries with McDonald's franchises have ever gone to war with each other. "

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mcdonalds-countries-war/

"So I've had this thesis for a long time and came here to Hamburger University at McDonald's headquarters to finally test it out. The thesis is this: No two countries that both have a McDonald's have ever fought a war against each other."

Friedman, Thomas L. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/opinion/foreign-affairs-b...