A Geostrategic Overview of Globalization & Power Politics in the 21st Century (Video)

[Caelius]

I had the pleasure of being in the audience for this presentation that Dr. Barnett gave at a CSIS affiliate in DC about 3 weeks back. A few movers and shakers in the DoD wanted a summarization of recent findings in projected geo-political trends in the "current climate" as it's called, and moving on through 2050, so he and the new think tank startup he's a partner of got "tapped" to be among those other organizations to give their finalized assessments before a select audience.

In attendance were a number of heavy & middleweights within the Beltway foreign policy establishment: Michèle Flournoy the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Robert Kaplan, Frances Townsend, Anthony Cordesman, Dr. George Friedman of Stratfor, a number civilian defense officials i'd never met before, a few State Department and CIA analysts, and a gang of retired military officers (mostly Navy, Army, and Air Force in that order) who lobby or contract for their active duty colleagues within the Military-Industrial Complex. Though there were few Marine Corps reps from their War College at Quantico, and a couple war theorists from the National Defense University and Johns Hopkins too.

After the usual pleasantries and a few other brief presentations Dr. Barnett gave his own. I wish they had kept the recording going for the question period that lasted after the session, as it was a pretty lively exchange between some people in the crowd over potential policy applications that will be (or might already have been) floated before the National Security Council before the next round of reports and white papers get circulated around.

Suffice to say though, I think it gives an interesting insight into the world of Geostrategic Theory that people in my profession engage in, and especially with how blunt it can be once the emotional tirades that some people can fly into get deconstructed.

Enjoy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(The Pentagon's Revised Geostrategic Map)


(Flow of People)


(Flow of Money)


(Flow of Energy)


(Flow of Food)


(Flow of Security)

[bushbush]

really liked his book, The Pentagon's New Map.

[Thorn777]

So America is the good guy!

[Border Patrol]

Protagonist. Geopolitical presentations in DC tend to be focused on the American perspective. Please try to keep that in mind.

[Caelius]

So America is the good guy!

I can't tell if the post is intended as sarcasm or not.....but attaching notions of moral relativism to an abstract construct like a Nation-state is both foolhardy, and an exercise in futility.

[YuriVII]

Well it can be construed from his thesis that America is the workhorse that spreads modernity throughout the world. Most people would view that as a good. I think he does not take into account ideologically fueled conflicts from the USA. They go to countries that would otherwise be a nothing. Vietnam is one good example. Very little strategic or economic importance, but USA went there and it defined a decade of Cold War politics. But then I guess it could be argued that Vietnam was rational as it coincided with the doctrine of containment.

Either way I buy into conflict being more Africa-centric. Why? Because there is nothing else really to fight over. Europe, S America, East Asia are spoken for. Central Asia is largely going to be a Russo-Chinese affair, and Africa is this big continent with tons of resources and no outside power bar some multi-nationals trying to eat that pie. Also, since China is moving in i guess we have to now.

[Admiral Piett]

Excellent and informative!

[PointOfViewGun]

Is there a high def version for the map slides?

[Caelifer_1991]

I would have repped you but it appears that you were the person I repped last, and thus I can't do it again Nive videos though, your links are among if not the best on these forums if you ask me.