ïPolitical Science [section], Library Journal, 15 June 2004, p. 85.

This review came out a while ago, but I apparently missed it at the time. Caught it recently thanks to citation in Contemporary Authors draft entry sent to me for review. Here's the short review, followed by my commentary:

BARNETT, THOMAS P.M. The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century. Putnam. 2004. c.402p. maps. ISBN 0-399-15175-3. $24.95 INT AFFAIRS

Barnett (U.S. Naval War Coll.) here proposes a clear and comprehensive strategy for the United States based on the distinction between "core" states integrated through the world economy and states in the nonintegrated "gap." Because threats to security emanate from states in the gap, the author seeks to shrink the gap by promoting altered "rule sets" governing the flow of people, energy, investment, and security. America's role is to export security and advance connections between the core and the diminishing gap. The author carefully explains why his approach differs from strategic thought aimed at subduing what he calls "arcs of crisis" or "the main enemy." He also makes a good case against those who advocate withdrawal from an "empire" or a "global-chaos strategy." Though he supports the war in Iraq, he criticizes the Bush administration for fostering an impression of vindictiveness rather than a "future worth creating." The reader must imagine how Barnett would deal with states that prefer to remain disconnected, but overall this is an important contribution to debates about globalization and U.S. military policy. Recommended for all academic and public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/04.].

--Zachary T. Irwin, Sch. Of Humanities and Social Science, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie

COMMENTARY: Awfully well-done summary of the book, with quick judgments inserted concerning the argument. All accomplished in 177 words before the summary recommendation. Not sure where he got "the main enemy" or "global-chaos strategy," but I guess he generated those phrases on his own and felt the need to mark them with quotations are jargon, so to speak. Reviews like this are pretty important, because on this basis many libraries choose whether or not to buy a copy or two. That matters when there is a spurt of interest like that following the C-SPAN broadcasts of the brief over Labor Day weekend, because many book stores had already returned most of their unsold copies to Putnam by that time, so your choices were: back order, order online (which quickly became a back-order situation) or check it out of your local library (either directly or via inter-library loan). So a real gateway review I was grateful to receive, especially as it encouraged academic libraries to pick up a copy. Remembering my grad-school days at Harvard, I realize how blessed I was to be able to utilize a research library of Widener's quality, because decisions such as these can make a real difference in how easy it is for your average grad student (typically pretty hard up for money) to get his or her hands on a volume.