Publisher's Weekly: first review out for Great Powers

Find it here and below:

Great Powers: America and the World After Bush Thomas P.M. Barnett. Putnam, $29.95 (480p) ISBN 978-0-399-15537-6

Barnett (The Pentagon's New Map) offers a comprehensive catalogue of the failings of the Bush administration and a strategic roadmap for American foreign policy in this sweeping text. The author takes a broad approach to the contemporary political landscape, surveying U.S. history from the Revolution through the end of the Cold War and applying lessons from that history to the present. Drawing on a variety of secondary sources and his personal and professional experiences as a national security specialist and consultant, Barnett argues in favor of cooperation with rising powers such as China and India and continued movement in the direction of globalization; he distills his central thesis down to the contention that "America must dramatically realign its own post-9/11 trajectory with that of the world at large." Barnett writes in a conversational style. Despite the text's vast scope, it has a clear, straightforward structure, even featuring a glossary of key terms, and it provides an accessible and engaging foray into global grand strategy. (Feb.)

PW reviews tend to be rather utilitarian: short form, they concentrate on the basics of content and then judge delivery, structure, readability and the like.

On those scores, GP does nicely here: "vast scope" with "straightforward structure" that's "accessible and engaging" despite the exploration of "global grand strategy," which typically is boring as all get out.

Hard not to be pleased.

Comments

[adam gillespie]

I was told of this blog a while ago and started reading and greatly enjoyed it. I've been away for a while but saw that you have the new book coming out. Congrats on the positive review, I've already pre ordered my copy on amazon.

[hof1991]

Yes, PW is a very non-snark, just the facts publication, but this is clearly a positive review. Compared to the reviews by them of the first two books, I think it shows A) an improved writing style with more to say and B) how the first two books have become mainstream. What seemed kinda weird earlier is now part of a well reasoned / easy to follow argument. Congrats.