The Pentagon's New Map; War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century

New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2004. Uncorrected Proof for Limited Distribution. Trade Paperback. Good. William McNulty (map). [20], 427, [1] pages. Map. Notes. Corners of several pages creased. Includes Preface: An Operating Theory of the World; Acknowledgments, Notes, and Index. Includes chapters on New Rule Sets; The Rise of the "Lesser Includeds"; Disconnecedness Defines Danger; The Core and the Gap; The New Ordering Principle; The Global Transaction Strategy; The Myths We Make (I Will Now Dispel); and Hope Without Guarantees. Thomas Barnett (born 1962) is a military geostrategist and former analyst at Wikistrat. He developed a geopolitical theory that divided the world into "the Functioning Core" and the "Non-Integrating Gap" that made him particularly notable prior to the 2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq when he wrote an article for Esquire in support of the military action entitled "The Pentagon's New Map" (which would later become a book that would elaborate his theories). The central thesis of his geopolitical theory is that the connections the globalization brings between countries (including connectivity, finance, and media ) are synonymous with those countries with stable governments and rising standards of living. These countries form the Functioning Core. These regions contrast with those where globalization has not yet penetrated, which is synonymous with political repression, poverty, disease, and conflict. These areas make up the Non-Integrating Gap. Key to Barnett's geostrategic ideas is that the United States should "export security" to the Gap in order to connect those regions with the Core, even if this means going to war in Gap countries, followed by long periods of nation-building. The Pentagon's New Map is a cutting-edge approach to globalization that combines security, economic, political, and cultural factors to do no less than predict and explain the nature of war and peace in the twenty-first century. Building on the works of Friedman, Huntington, and Fujuyama, and then taking a leap beyond, this book crystallizes recent American military history and strategy, sets the paramenters for where our forces will likely be headed in the future, outlines the unique role that America can and will play in establishing international stability--and provides much-needed hope at a crucial yet uncertain time in world history. Derived from a Kirkus review: 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. 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." 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. 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. A game of Risk between hard covers. Endlessly fascinating.