Critique of The Pentagon's New Map

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Critique of Thomas Barnett’s “The Pentagon’s New Map”

1. Critique the Author’s Thesis: Thomas Barnett, in the article, “The Pentagon’s New Map: It Explains Why We’re Going to War, and Why We’ll Keep Going to War,” says that disconnectedness defines danger . Barnett describes two parts of the world he calls The Functioning Core and The Non-Integrating Gap . The Functioning Core, also called the “Core”, features regions thick with network connectivity, financial transactions, liberal media flows, collective security, with stable governments, rising standards of living and more deaths by suicide than murder . The Non-Integrating Gap, also known as the “Gap” features regions where globalization is thinning or just plain absent,…show more content…
Our security problem becomes one of managing countries that are weak in globalization. This is clear in our responses to Afghanistan and Iraq. Both countries sit firmly within the Gap. Barnett talks about the importance of stopping the terrorists from access to the Core via the “seam States” along the boundaries of the Gap . This is a good argument if the movement of the terrorist cells were strictly ground forces moving through the neighboring states. However, the concept of seam states is lessened in these times of increased mobility. It is vital to protect seam states, as it is vital to protect other areas of entry, such as airports. The Gap terrorists can skip over the seam states directly into Core countries. In the way ahead, he argues that the goal of the United States should be to concentrate on shrinking the Gap by all means possible . Ultimately the members of the Gap need to become connected with the Core. Barnett states that in the future integration of the Gap will depend on more private investment. For example, Africa will need a lot more aid than has been provided in the past and more than public Core can handle . I submit that before these areas can be assisted by private investment, there will have to be substantial resources expended in the form of money and soldiers required to stabilize these regions. For a nation that has been at war with two different Gap countries for more than 11 years, this will
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