Can't find you an online version. Boscobel's a bit Gappy in that way (as if the title of the piece doesn't tell you that).

Here's the text (I will comment at the end; do not read any of the asides in the text as being mine, as I reprint the article here exactly as it appeared):

Boscobel author breaks new ground with his look at global transformation: Barnett works for the U.S. Naval War College

[no author listed, although it seems to be someone from Lancaster WI, the county seat]

Boscobel Dial, 16 February 2006, Second Section, page 1.

Thomas P.M. Barnett of Boscobel can trace his ancestry to several Grant County Civil War veterans, Barnetts as well as John Callis of the Iron Brigade. His parents were both attorneys and his father practiced many years in Boscobel.

In 2004, Thomas' book, The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century (Berkeley Books, NY), was published. The book cites a review by The National Review which is a good summary of the book:

"In many respects, the book is brilliant and innovative. It offers a persuasive analysis of the post-9/11 world as well as policy prescriptions flowing from that analysis ... He is an entertaining writer and offers many interesting insights into the workings of the bureaucracy and the travails of those who would seek to transform its workings ... Despite attempts to caricature Barnett as a warmonger becaause he endorsed the war in Iraq, the fact is that he is optimistic about the blessings of 'connectivity' and globalization--indeed he is extremely close in outlook to [Francis] Fukuyama. He believes that globalization can create prosperity anywhere only if it creates prosperity everywhere."

Barnett works for the U.S. Naval War College, held many positions in the government and think tanks, and has a Ph.D. from Harvard in governmental affairs. The most striking note in the book is that he was on stage during 9/11 and he was scheduled during that month both for a meeting at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center [They lost much of their staff that day] and he was scheduled to meet at the exact location where the plane struck the Pentagon.

The book sets a world stage with the terms "the Core" and "the Gap," the Core being the countries that are functioning in the global economy and the Gap being the countries that are not well integrated into the global economy. He believes the answer is to facilitate the Gap becoming participants in the global economy which will reduce/eliminate terrorists. [This is a Grant County overview of a 400-page book.]

He believes that the U.S. should be "the system administrator" to oversee the transformation of the Gap into the Core. While the book "uses an easy conversational language that instructs rather than condescends" [Fort Worth-Star Telegram], its concepts and presentation can be difficult to follow or even agree. There are portions of his ideas that are troubling, such as "much needed regime change" or a new "9/11 trigger to set the end game in motion."

He includes a reference to Boscobel in the book:

"I was both unwittingly and unwillingly introduced to the concept of asymmetrical warfare as a young child growing up in my small hometown of Boscobel, Wisconsin. My dear father was the city attorney, which meant he sometimes had to enforce city ordinances with townsfolk who, for example, saw no reason why raising pigs in their backyard might disturb their neighbors. I sometimes found myself standing up to fairly sizable bullies who were determined to make me pay for the fact that my dad had mad their dad lose the livestock.

"Like anyone smaller facing someone larger, I engaged in asymmetrical warfare to defend myself. In other words, I pulled every dirty trick on them that I could think of, always trying to exploit their weakest points. While I got roughed up now and then, I never really ever got beat up, because I was willing to pull out all the stops to defend myself. I knew I would never survive a straight-up fight, so I would run because they were slower, hit them below the belt because they were taller, or joke my way out of the situation. But I never did try to punch them out, because punching was their strength, and it simply made no sense for me to fight their way."

He mentions Wisconsin in the book:

"Washington, D.C. is a lot different from rural Wisconsin, where I grew up. In Wisconsin, people ask you what you do because they are really interested and--if possible--they would like to help you get ahead in life. But in Washington, people ask you what you do because they want to check your status relative to theirs, and getting down your particulars proves handy if they ever need to bring you down a peg or two."

He also retains his Green Bay Packers season tickets and takes his two oldest children to a game each at Lambeau Field each fall.

He also mentions his brother and, just before acknowledging his wife, he says this about his parents:

"It almost goes without saying that this book is yet another small down payment on the enormous debt I owe my parents, John and Colleen, for everything they have done for me across my lifetime. All the great convictions expressed in this vision began originally with them, my life being an extension of their own."

The president of our high school class served in the White House under Reagan and his aunt expressed concern about him losing his faith. Barnett mentions his religious upbringing several times in the book. One wonders if they looked at 1 Cor. 1:18. Man since ancient times [see Roman Empire] has attempted to control his own fate. Has he ever succeeded? Thomas is optimistic about our future but it still remains frightening.

COMMENTARY: All joking aside about it taking almost two years for news of my book to reach my hometown newspaper, this is actually a pretty good write-up, which naturally favors the local excerpts. The bit about the local kid who works for Reagan is, my Mom told me, probably about some guy from Lancaster. My Mom was told by the local editor of the paper that this piece was written by someone in Lancaster, where the Barnetts originally landed in Grant County in the 19th century. I like the bit about the Bible at the end. It's very Boscobel Dial-ish

The piece is ended with a joke quote from "Senator Soaper" which reads: "Democracy is a form of government in which it is permitted to wonder aloud what the country could do under first-class management."

Works for me.