Thomas P.M. Barnett

When Tom Barnett first got his book (The Pentagon's New Map) published, he was teaching at the Naval War College and living in Rhode Island. I read his book nearly four decades after having been drafted into civilian service as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, so my interest in that book was hardly for the self-reinforcement of a hawk.

The fact is that I had seen his presentation on the subject on C-Span. I immediately went out, bought the book, and read it. I devoured it, actually, because here for the first time was a perspective that I had never seen before, and one presented with such insight and, clearly, from such an insider's perspective in the military-industrial complex.

I've linked to Tom's blog posts from time to time, and I continue to have that blog on my list of regularly checked sources every week. It's the only reason I would have even known about a post made today, with a link to online videos of all of Tom's appearances on C-Span.

The one to watch, and the place to start if you've never been exposed to this unique perspective on the possible future of America's military-industrial complex, is the original December 6, 2004 C-Span presentation of Tom's lecture based on The Pentagon's New Map.

The essence of this unique viewpoint is that there is a realistic path that CAN be taken, much more realistic in its detail than any of my purely idealistic desires as someone who cannot support war. And it's Tom's unbounded optimism in that mission that impressed the hell out of me, and continues to impress me as the past half decade has passed.