Free Republic

David Petraeus is the real Pope of counter-insurgency and if he decides that he needs more troops and more time and more resources in Afghanistan next year, who is going to be able to gainsay him? That's Thomas P. Barnett's shrewd assessment. Obama's pledge to start withdrawing troops in 2011 is now kaput... It really is Vietnam -- along with the crazier and crazier rationales for continuing it. But it is now re-starting in earnest ten years in, dwarfing Vietnam in scope and longevity. One suspects there is simply no stopping this war machine, just as there is no stopping...

As the White House talked up conflict with Iran, the head of U.S. Central Command, William "Fox" Fallon, talked it down. Now he has resigned. If, in the dying light of the Bush administration, we go to war with Iran, it'll all come down to one man. If we do not go to war with Iran, it'll come down to the same man. He is that rarest of creatures in the Bush universe: the good cop on Iran, and a man of strategic brilliance. His name is William Fallon, although all of his friends call him "Fox," which was his...

The abrupt resignation of Adm. William Fallon as the head of Central Command almost got lost amid the breaking news of Barack Obama's victory in the Mississippi primary and Eliot Spitzer's resignation as governor of New York. But it's a much more consequential development -- in the foreign and military policy of the Bush administration in its final year in office and in the relations between civilian commanders and military officers in the long run of American history. Though everyone involved denies it, Fallon was kicked out for insubordination, or something very close to it. His conduct became impossible to...

With former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani consistently leading early polls for the Republican presidential nomination, pundits have spilled an ocean of ink concerning his electability. Having recently sat down with the man, let me tell you why I consider Giuliani a candidate wholly appropriate for our times. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking and writing about globalization and security, I was brought in recently by the Giuliani campaign to discuss these topics with the mayor. This is standard practice as presidential candidates gear up, and Giuliani's camp is the fourth I've visited in the last...

With former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani consistently leading early polls for the Republican presidential nomination, pundits have spilled an ocean of ink concerning his electability. Having recently sat down with the man, let me tell you why I consider Giuliani a candidate wholly appropriate for our times. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking and writing about globalization and security, I was brought in recently by the Giuliani campaign to discuss these topics with the mayor. This is standard practice as presidential candidates gear up, and Giuliani's camp is the fourth I've visited in the last...

HH: Joined now by Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett. He’s the author of The Pentagon’s New Map, one of the preeminent global strategists in the United States. The book, The Pentagon’s New Map, widely read and influential within the Pentagon and other military think tanks. We are on Chapter 7 of an eight week series. This chapter, The Miss We Make, and Dr. Barnett, welcome back, always a pleasure to talk to you. TB: Always a pleasure to be here. HH: If I could summarize this, I think I’d use the line from Cool Hand Luke, what we have here is...

HH: Joined now by Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, author of the Pentagon’s New Map, for the second of our eight conversations, one chapter at a time from that book, that very influential book. If you’re just tuning in for the first time, Dr. Barnet shook up the Pentagon after 9/11 with his understanding of the Pentagon’s New Map, and this is a New York Times bestseller that continues to become the source of many, many heated conversations, and much conversation here. Dr. Barnett, welcome back to the program. TB: Thanks for having me again, Hugh. HH: Let’s begin by recapping...

HH: This is a special hour on the Hugh Hewitt Show, the first of our eight conversations with Thomas P.M. Barnett. Dr. Barnett is one of the country’s preeminent grand strategists and military theorists. He’s the author of the Pentagon’s New Map: War And Peace In The 21st Century, one of the most influential, if not the most influential books inside of the Pentagon. And over the next eight weeks at this hour, we are going to be talking with him about one chapter at a time. Dr. Barnett, welcome back to the program. TB: Thanks so much for having...

HH: It’s a pleasure to welcome to the Hugh Hewitt Show Thomas P.M. Barnett, author of The Pentagon’s New Map, perhaps the most influential book on foreign policy inside of the Pentagon from the last six or seven years. Mr. Barnett, welcome to the program. TB: Thanks for having me, Hugh. HH: Now we’ve been talking via e-mails about perhaps doing something new with this book, taking it very seriously, and moving through its chapters, one at a time, over the course of many weeks and months. But let’s begin by explaining to people who you are and how you...

HH: I am now joined by Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, author of The Pentagon’s New Map, one of the most important books within the Pentagon and outside of it in many circles in the last few years. Dr. Barnett and I are spending an hour a week going through this book. We are on Chapter 6. Dr. Barnett, welcome back. You’re in the District of Columbia tonight? TB: Yes, I am, in a cab heading toward the hotel. HH: Well, we’ll do the best we can, and we’ll make it work. As I read Chapter 6, The Global Transaction Strategy…...

HH: Part 5 now with Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, in the conversation about his book, The Pentagon’s New Map, one of the most important books of the last many years, read throughout the Pentagon, instrumental in rethinking our strategic approach to the world through the military and beyond. Dr. Barnett, welcome back. Good to have you. TB: Thanks for having me. (snip) HH: Well now, let’s go…that was the jumping off point, and here comes the right hook. Osama bin Laden’s message on 9/11 was essentially this. You will never be able to live with us in your midst, we...

HH: Thomas P.M. Barnett is a senior strategic researcher and professor at the United States Naval War College, he’s also the author of perhaps the most influential book in the Pentagon in the last decade, The Pentagon’s New Map: War And Peace In The 21st Century. He’s been my guest these past four weeks at this time. This is our fourth hour-long conversation, or fifth conversation overall, and Dr. Barnett, welcome back. A pleasure. TB: Always good. HH: We want to talk about the four flows and the ten truths, so let’s jump in. There’s a lot to cover this...

HH: Part number three of my conversation with Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, author of the Pentagon’s New Map. Dr. Barnett, welcome back. TB: Thanks for having me. HH: A little off topic, we’ll get to chapter three, but it’s the State of the Union tonight. How do you assay the state of the union, Dr. Barnett? TB: Oh, I think economically, we’re very strong. I think our economy’s looking good, I think the global economy’s looking very solid. In fact, we haven’t had a global economy this strong in human history facing the kind of big impulse we’re going to...

The Chinese Are Our FriendsBy Thomas P. M. Barnett | Nov 1, 2005 | 4988 The greatest threat to America's success in its war on terrorism sits inside the Pentagon. The proponents of Big War (that cold-war gift that keeps on giving), found overwhelmingly in the Air Force and Navy, will go to any length to demonize China in their quest to justify high-tech weaponry (space wars for the flyboys) and super- expensive platforms (submarines and ships for the admirals, and bomber jets for both) in the budget struggles triggered by our costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. With...

The Pentagon is primarily in the business of preparing for war, not waging it. War is waged by commanders in the field. What the Pentagon does is think long and hard about what the future of war should be like. It then directs vast R&D and acquisition programs to generate a force capable of waging war successfully in that domain. Its demands for intelligence tend to be future-oriented. Right now, there is a debate raging within the Pentagon and the military as a whole about what the war in Iraq and the subsequent (and ongoing) occupation tell us about the...

In a Frontpage Exclusive, Dr. Thomas Barnett discusses why globalization is America's greatest gift to history.Frontpage Interview's guest today is Dr. Thomas Barnett, senior strategic researcher and professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He served as assistant for strategic futures in the Defense Department's Office of Force Transformation (Oct. 2001-June 2003). He is the author of the new book The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century. FP: Dr. Barnett, welcome to Frontpage Interview, it is a pleasure to have you here. Barnett: Thanks for the opportunity. FP: What inspired you to write this book?Barnett: I...

IN HIS CLASSIC description of globalization The Lexus and the Olive Tree, columnist Thomas L. Friedman quotes an Egyptian professor asking, "Does globalization mean we all have to become Americans?" This simple question contains the current great myth of globalization, within which we can locate much of the world's anxiety regarding America's global war on terrorism. In short, the world's current anti-Americanism is based on the notion that globalization is an American plot to enslave the planet in an economic and military empire of unprecedented historical scope, with the war being nothing more than propaganda to hide our true intentions....

Naval War College Professor Thomas Barnett has been one of the leading thinkers behind the Revolution in Military Affairs and the transformation of the Pentagon under Donald Rumsfeld. He is the author of the bestselling book "The Pentagon's New Map," which is a clear exposition of our new post-war political/military environmnet. He has appeared on CSPAN and in many other prominent forums. Of course, Dr. Barnett has attracted some of the hatred directed at Donald Rumsfeld. While some of this is from liberals a lot of the enmity against Rumsfeld derives from Pentagon insiders who cannot figure out that we...

Testimony to the Congressional Overseas Basing Commission Dateline: Office of Force Transformation, Rosslyn VA, 9 November 2004 TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO THE OVERSEAS BASING COMMISSION BY DR. THOMAS P.M. BARNETT PROFESSOR, NAVAL WAR COLLEGE [9 November 2004] First, let me thank the Commission on Overseas Basing for inviting me to testify here today. Second, let me emphasize right from the start that I'm not an expert per se on the U.S. military's global basing structure. I am essentially a grand strategist who spends his time contemplating the long-term objectives of U.S. foreign policy with a particular focus on how the...

The Pentagon's New Map It Explains Why We're Going To War, And Why We'll Keep Going To War. By Thomas P.M. Barnett, U.S. Naval War College Since the end of the cold war, the United States has been trying to come up with an operating theory of the world—and a military strategy to accompany it. Now there’s a leading contender. It involves identifying the problem parts of the world and aggressively shrinking them. Since September 11, 2001, the author, a professor of warfare analysis, has been advising the Office of the Secretary of Defense and giving this briefing continually at...