Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Period covered: 1JUL02 to 30JUN03

Professor Barnett's fitness report of one year ago chronicled his growing prominence as a key strategic thinker and noted that his level of activity and influence were already unique among Naval War College faculty, perhaps since the time of Mahan. That report cited in particular his frequent presentations to senior audiences within the government, the media, and the business community and his authorship of numerous articles. While the level of accomplishment reported last year was prodigious, it has been eclipsed by Professor Barnett's achievements in the 12 months since. Not only has he equaled or exceeded last year's number and level of presentations; more importantly, he has emerged as one of the most influential strategic thinkers in the U.S. and beyond. His influence is reflected in the frequency with which he is interviewed and quoted, and even more so in the correlation between his strategic concepts and the decisions being made by senior leaders in the defense community regarding the structure, deployment and use of U.S. forces.

No doubt Professor Barnett's dual-hatted status over the past two years as Assistant for Strategic Futures in the Office of Force Transformation, OSD, was a key asset in getting his ideas before major decision makers. He has recently requested termination of this reimbursable assignment, but the currency his ideas have gained, his credibility in senior quarters within and outside the government, and the continuing evolution of his concepts guarantee he will remain a leading influence on U.S. strategy.

Along with Professor Barnett's impact on decision making, another tangible result of his work has been to raise the visibility of the Naval War College as a source of innovative thinking to a level not seen in decades. That he is a uniquely valuable member of the faculty, indeed a core capability personified, deserves underscoring and recognition.

It would be even less practical this year than last to attempt a comprehensive review of Professor Barnett's accomplishments. Following is a representative sampling, by audience.

Senior U.S. officials. Briefings to the nominees for Secretary of the Navy and Air Force, the Special Assistant to SECDEF, senior aides to the Secretary of State, and various DoD officials, including staff of the Office of the Under Secretary for Policy.

Congress. Briefings to ten members of Congress, to staff members, and to senior staff of the Congressional Research Service.

Joint community. Briefings to the senior leadership class (incoming 1-stars and SES) of the US Air Force Senior Leadership management conference, senior officers of the US Army long-range planning office and US SOCOM planning cell, representatives of the Army and Air Force transformation offices, senior managers of JWAC, faculty of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and a transformation class at the Army War College.

Intelligence community. Briefings to the senior leadership of the Defense Intelligence Agency and to the Strategic Assessments Group, CIA.

Navy. Briefings to N76 and his senior staff and to senior staff at NUWC.

Think tanks. Briefings to the Council on Foreign Relations Washington office, senior research staff of the RAND Washington office, senior leadership of the Institute for Defense Analysis, staff of the Center for Defense Information and representatives from the Heritage Foundation.

Business Community. Briefings to Lockheed Martin senior officials, the Carlyle Group, senior staff of Defense Forecasting International, senior leadership of the International Resources Group and the New England Complex Systems Institute; keynote address to the annual conference of the Association for Enterprise Integration (AFEI).

Academia. Briefings to senior leadership of the Johns Hopkins Advanced Physics Lab, Columbia University graduate students and faculty, George Washington University students and staff and two graduate courses at Georgetown University.

U.S. media. Named as "The Strategist" in Esquire's "Best and Brightest" issue, one of 40 honoreers representing all fields of endeavor; briefed senior staff of Esquire; appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer; appeared on Fox News' "The Big Story"; briefed Nicholas Kristof, op-ed columnist for the New York Times, and mid-level managers; multiple appearances on National Public Radio, including the Glen Mitchell Show, the Todd Feinburg Show, Marketplace, "The Connection" and the Tracy McCray show; appeared on the Mike Rosen Show (Denver)' interview appeared in American Freedom Foundation's DoubleThink journal, profiled in the Providence Journal; quoted in articles appearing in the Wall Street Journal, Defense News and Army Times; multiple appearances on local radio and TV channels.

Publications. Feature article, "The Pentagon's New Map," Esquire; entry "No Retaliation at Home," New York Times Week in Review "symposium"; article "The American Way of War" with Arthur Cebrowski, Proceedings; op-ed "The 'Core' and 'Gap': Defining Rules in a Dangerous World." Providence Journal; Chapter "Asia's Energy Future: The Military-Market Link" in Globalization and Maritime Power, Sam J. Tangredi, ed. (National Defense University Press); article "Global Transaction Strategy" with Henry Gaffney, Military Officer. Most of these articles were reprinted in the Pentagon's Early Bird.

International community. Briefed Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defense, Singapore; subject of feature story in Japanese magazine Sapio; article "Pentagon's New Map" reprinted by Paris-based Courier International and German foreign affairs journal Blatter fur deutsche und internationale Politik (triggering additional coverage in Die Ziet and Frietag); articles "The American Way of War" with Arthur Cebrowski and "The Top 100 Rules of the New American Way of War" with Henry Gaffney republished in British Army Review; interviewed by Korean public television; appeared on national news program of Canadian Broadcast Corporation.

Support to Naval War College. Presentation to audience of several hundred at Current Strategy Forum; designed and facilitated Economic Security Exercises sponsored by NWC Foundation in San Francisco, Long Island and Philadelphia; briefed President, NWC, Strategic Studies Group, Reserve Officers' Training Workshop on Middle East and two NWC student elective classes; facilitated multiple workshops for senior management at SPAWAR SSC as part of a long-range organizational planning effort; moderated seminar for Current Strategy Forum.

To have registered half these achievements in one year would be very impressive. To have accomplished them all is phenomenal. The War College could make no better investment that to continue supporting and rewarding Professor Barnett's efforts.