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KIRKUS
REVIEWS
A sometimes strange, sometimes Strangelovean white paper destined to
top policy-wonk reading lists in the months to come-especially if, as
the author suggests, the Pentagon is taking it seriously. "I am
proposing a new grand strategy on a par with the Cold War strategy of
containment-in effect, its historical successor," writes Barnett
(Naval War College). That strategy is hydra-headed, but at the start it
involves recognizing which of the world's countries are part of the
Functioning Core, signed on to the globalization club, and which are
part of the Non-Integrating Gap, "largely disconnected from the
global economy and the rule sets that define its stability."
(Barnett is fond of Capitalized Concepts.) By this sharp division, a
broad equatorial swath across the planet, comprising sick and
troublesome nations such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, lies beyond the
pale of Euroamerican reason, whereas Russia, Chile, and, perhaps
surprisingly, China are to be counted as allies, real or potential, and
even friends. One of the tasks for the US, Barnett writes, is to develop
what he calls "a reproducible strategic concept" by which to
guide the military in global actions, reproducible meaning one on whose
terms Democrats and Republicans can largely agree. "Trust me,"
Barnett breezily writes, "the military wants this sort of
bipartisan consensus in the worst way." Such repurposing is
necessary if we are to set an example for the rest of the civilized
world, which seems disinclined to subscribe to our rule set. The
Strangelove element comes in when Barnett makes extramilitary policy
recommendations, as when he urges that a component of Western foreign
aid be to encourage "the widespread use of bio-engineered
crops," demands the removal of Kim Jong Il from power in North
Korea (an inevitability, Barnett says, if Bush is reelected), and
prophesies that the US will admit many new states in the next 50
years-including Mexico. A game of Risk between hard covers. Endlessly
fascinating-but endlessly weird.
COMMENTARY: My brother, the
librarian, calls Kirkus the "king of snide." It's written mostly
for librarians and book stores, but online sellers like Barnes and Noble
stick it on book pages, so you have to deal with it on some level. My
suspicion is that this guy read the preface, first chapter, and then
conclusion to come up with this review. Otherwise, he'd have known I put
in years working as a consultant to USAID, meaning I know my ass from my
elbow on foreign aid (the "extramilitary policy recommendations"
being "Strangelovean"). My sense is that the book was simply too
big for him/her (the anonymous Kirkus reviewer), and he/she was scared off
by having the "military" writer delving into all sorts of
material beyond his seemingly narrow purview—thus I am Strangelovean.
Wait a minute! Isn't that a Capitalized Epithet! |
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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