In October a friend at the Pentagon told me that everyone was reading a new book by Thomas P. M. Barnett called
The Pentagon's New Map. (I've linked to an
Esquire article that lays out its basics. called). My friend--who's now in Iraq, BTW, was sorta scornful of the book, but I picked it up just to see what the buzz was about. To my surprise, I thought it was a good book, less because it's right or wrong than because it creates a good template for trading ideas.
I've spelled out why in my blog,
War Historian. See esp. these entries:
Brave New Functioning Core
Making the World Safe for Globalization
Because Ralph Would Have Wanted It That Way.
Check out
The Rebel Jesus too.
My quick answer to the question of PNM's value is that it creates a very good template for productive exchange of ideas. Agree or disagree with him, his concepts "pop." They're easy to explain, they catch people's imaginations, even when they disagree, and arguing with PNM therefore seems one constructive way to think about the War on Terrorism. God knows I lost confidence in the Bushies years ago. (So, by and large, has Barnett.)
I want to use this diary to collect as much informed opinion as I can on PNM and see if, at the end of the journey, I still think the book is as worthwhile as I do right now.
Update [2005-2-1 3:30:50 by jethro6355]:The first round of commentary divides into people who see PNM as a stalking horse for the same old American "informal imperialism," and others who think his ideas have merit. But even those who like his Core/Gap distinction are skeptical about the scope his prescriptions give for the use of US military force.
Best place to get up to speed on PNM is Barnett's huge web site/blog.
See specifically:
March 2003 Esquire article
June 2004 Esquire article
Barnett reprints all reviews of his books--good, bad, and ugly, and responds to each:
Reviewing the Reviews
Yikes! What? Is this thread dead already? PNM? The biggest book Inside the Beltway? This is
all the readers of Daily Kos can come up with?
Is it me? Did I somehow smother the thread in childhood?
BTW, this is my first diary, so feel free to give me pointers.