Dr. Barnett: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Future

***Originally Posted to Modern Politics and You***

Over Labor Day weekend I was sitting around doing nothing and eventually decided to sit down in my broke-ass Target folding chair and watch some TV. Flipping around, I came to C-SPAN where a man was giving this fancy looking PowerPoint presentation. So I watched for a little bit, and as I did, I became entranced. Here was a man that was making sense.

When each of us opened our eyes on the morning of September 12th, 2001 and contemplated what we had all watched on the previous day, eacvh of us knew that the world had changed in some extremely important way. Moreover, we were all left with deep, stiring questions. Who were these terrorists? Why did they attack us? How could we be safe? How could we accomplish peace? Today, we still lack answers for these questions.

The tumultous days since May 2003 when President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq have been days of extreme uncertainty and soul searching for this nation. These days left us with more questions. How was a war in Iraq connected to 9/11? Was invading Iraq the right choice? Will we win in Iraq? Can we win in Iraq?

Every day, we are bombarded with so-called answers to these questions. The Moores, the Morrises, the Deans, the Limbaughs, the Coulters, the Hitchens, the Sullivans, the Chomskys, the Bushes, the Cheneys, the Powells, the Kerrys, and all the others have all tried to fill these gaps in our minds. The fact that these questions linger in our minds today is indicitive to me (at least) that none of those people have adequately answered these questions yet.

The crux of the problem is that our leaders have not adequately explained to us what the hell is going on. Bush's current explanation for us about why we are in Iraq is that we are there to "spread freedom", as if freedom comes from Smuckers or something. That's unacceptable. Our leaders have failed to establish serious goals for the future. The "global war on terror" has no defined end. Our leaders need to learn that leadership is not simply making decisions, it's guidance, it's direction, and currently it seems as if we have none. What we need is someone to explain to us what the hell is going on in the world, and where the United States, and our invasion of Iraq, fit into the big picture.

Enter Thomas Barnett, the man I saw on C-SPAN that night. A strategic planner at the Naval War College, Barnett is the kind of guy that I had always hoped existed somewhere within the government. He's does not seek to compress complex issues like 9/11 or Iraq into 30 second sound bites (crap like "they hate our freedom"). His mantra is thinking about war "in the context of everything else".

Today, Thomas Barnett is breaking into the mainstream with David Ignatius devoting a full op-ed column to his book "The Pentagon's New Map" today. The column gives a brief overview of Barnett's ideas. Various writings of Dr. Barnett's can be found on his website, a long with his excellent blog.

On the 20th, C-SPAN (having been rather impressed with his last appearence and probably having sold a ton of DVDs) is going to air a new taping of Barnett's "Brief" at 8PM EST along with a live call-in program afterwards at 9:30PM. I invite everyone to watch, because even if you don't agree with him, Dr. Barnett will get you thinking like almost no one else.