Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Columnist Rich Tucker quotes Tom extensively in the back half of Draining the “Legion of Doom’s” Swamp:

But the U.S. military’s probably the only force in the world that can actually help Cuba. As Thomas Barnett wrote in his book The Pentagon’s New Map, “Show me a part of the world that is secure in its peace and I will show you strong or growing ties between local militaries and the U.S. military. Show me regions where major war is inconceivable and I will show you permanent U.S. military bases and long-term security alliances.”

Barnett adds that the opposite is also true. “Where America’s security exports have been hesitant, intermittent, or nonexistent, there you will find most of the violence in the world today,” which we certainly do in Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Sudan, etc.

Of course, the peace delivered by the American military also delivers prosperity. For example, while most North Koreas are starving, South Korea (under our security umbrella) has developed one of the most dynamic economies in the world.

And once a country has a successful economy, it’s unlikely to resort to violence. “Of the 37 major conflicts spread around the world I the 1990s, 34 occurred in countries with annual per capita GDP totals of less than $2,936,” Barnett writes. “When countries rise above that $3,000 mark, they seem to get out of the mass violence business.” Thus, global prosperity -- spread and encouraged by the U.S. military -- is the real key to “killing transnational terrorism,” as Barnett writes.

There’s a world worth creating out there.

We won’t get there as long as some leaders in the Nonaligned Movement cling to power, but their world is the past, not the future.