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Amazon.com
This bold and important book strives to be a practical "strategy
for a Second American Century." In this brilliantly argued work,
Thomas Barnett calls globalization "this country’s gift to
history" and explains why its wide dissemination is critical to the
security of not only America but the entire world. As a senior military
analyst for the U.S. Naval War College, Barnett is intimately familiar
with the culture of the Pentagon and the State Department (both of which
he believes are due for significant overhauls). He explains how the
Pentagon, still in shock at the rapid dissolution of the once evil
empire, spent the 1990s grasping for a long-term strategy to replace
containment. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Barnett
argues, revealed the gap between an outdated Cold War-era military and a
radically different one needed to deal with emerging threats. He
believes that America is the prime mover in developing a "future
worth creating" not because of its unrivaled capacity to wage war,
but due to its ability to ensure security around the world. Further, he
believes that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to create a better
world and the way he proposes to do that is by bringing all nations into
the fold of globalization, or what he calls connectedness. Eradicating
disconnectedness, therefore, is "the defining security task of our
age." His stunning predictions of a U.S. annexation of much of
Latin America and Canada within 50 years as well as an end to war in the
foreseeable future guarantee that the book will be controversial. And
that's good. The Pentagon's New Map deserves to be widely discussed.
Ultimately, however, the most impressive aspects of the book is not its
revolutionary ideas but its overwhelming optimism. Barnett wants the
U.S. to pursue the dream of global peace with the same zeal that was
applied to preventing global nuclear war with the former Soviet Union.
High-level civilian policy makers and top military leaders are already
familiar with his vision of the future—this book is a briefing for the
rest of us and it cannot be ignored. --Shawn Carkonen
COMMENTARY: What can I say, he had
me at "brilliantly argued work." Best quick summary of the depth
of the book, suggesting this guy is a professional. I am told the review
had an unusual amount of content exposition for an Amazon review, also
suggesting a reviewer with subject-matter expertise. The "stunning
predictions" were meant to be just that: something to grab you by the
throat before you lay down the book. But the best part is that he gets and
cites the "overwhelming optimism." That was a key aspect of how
we sold the book to Putnam. This book is built around hope, not the usual
packaged fear and loathing. |
Email Thomas P.M. Barnett
Biography
Putnam, 2004
The Pentagon's New Map
Esquire, March 2003
The
Pentagon's New Map
Global Transaction Strategy
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