"The Brief"

About a year ago I saw a lecture being given in C-SPAN by Dr. Thomas PM Barnett. I had never heard of him before this but his presentation blew my mind. I found out later that this presentation has been given over 500 times to approximately 30,000 government officials, think tank representatives, military officers, and opinion leaders. The presentation since then has simply been called,"history's most famous Pentagon briefing or simply, "The Brief." Dr.Barnett worked for the Secretary of Defense in the Office of Force Transformation and has since published two best-selling books( see left).

The brief is on the future of America's Armed Forces and the threats we face and how to deal with them. You can watch or order the brief here. Dr. Barnett can be read on daily basis at his blog. The "New Map" is the distinction between those countries who are connected (the"Functioning Core) to the rest of the world and those that aren't (the Non-Integrating Gap).

Sound complicated? It's not. I recommend the presentation to everyone. It is funny, visually appealing and easy to understand. In other words, it doesn't take a PhD in IR or a 4-Star general to recognize the validity of his claims and the effect they will have on the direction of US foreign policy and structure (i.e. The Department of Everything Else).

*EXTRA*- "The Peace Corps with Muscles" by Michael J. Trotten is a perfect example of SysAdmin duties described by Dr. Barnett in the brief. Dr. Barnett uses the terminology, the"peace corp with guns" instead.