Sunday, May 4, 2008

Barnett's Latest Booklist






















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One of the rewards of reading Thomas Barnett's blog has been his book recommendations. This past year as he prepared for his latest book on grand strategy he listed the books he was reading along with a brief review Two new book lists and FAQs. Anyone interested in the complete list can visit his blog and type in books in the site search box.

Keeping with that tradition, Tom has added seven of the most recent books he's read along with brief comments.

Recent books read (1 of 7): Klare's "Rising Powers and Shrinking Planet" »But in this book, even Klare ends with a note about China and the U.S. shifting slowly from competition (not so bad and hardly "war") to cooperation.

Glenny says when you add up all the estimates, that global crime is 15-20 percent of global GDP. This is the biggest estimate out there, and by definition, I tend to doubt it, because the ones who push these calculations most are always trying to move product with the fear factor.

Subtitle is "the future of the Middle East."
Great bit on "pyjamahedeen."

Also like the "peaceful empowerment" logic that is taking root and threatening the old order in the region.

Subtitle is "the global power elite and the world they are making."

6,000 people actually run the entire world, and Rothkopf's got a list!

More seriously, the larger point is that we're heading into a period of great and powerful forces: "great powers" that obliterate our old understanding of that term (more on that later).

Subtitle is "reviving faith and politics in a post-religious right America," and I find that a bit much. If you're going to crank on the new "great awakening," then why get all pissy on the religious right like it's some straw man we must defeat?

Like how he calls America a "postimperial multinational state" and refers to pre-American role in world as "the imperial millennia."

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