This is not as successfully argued as his first book, The Pentagon's New Map. Pity the poor pundit as Barnett optimistically posits a positive appraisal for the Pentagon and Americans. No such blueprint could possibly exist since the world we are in is much more precarious than Barnett seems to believe. There is much that is wishful thinking here.

The United States stands at a threshold. It can withdraw into itself. Or it can seize a moment to forge the most peaceful period in human history, where war becomes unknown. Thomas P. M. Barnett, a former at the U.S. Naval War College professor and advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense maps a sweeping vision for the U.S. military in this the sequel to his influential The Pentagon's New Map.

Barnett argues the U.S. military has a massive doctrinal flaw. It possesses unrivaled power to win wars. Yet has little ability to win the peace. Take Iraq. No thought was given to postwar stabilization and reconstruction.

He advocates creating a new Department of Global Security. He foresees it being tasked with restoring countries after an armed intervention by U.S. forces. He argues the new department would also work to reduce economic and social instability in regions of the developing world that currently are “outside the map.”

Barnett is an original foreign policy thinker. This book answers many of the questions left hanging with his first. For me, his insights place our foreign policy in a context I rarely see in my other reading.

Penned by the Pointed Pundit
August 15, 2006
8:50:42 PM ( )