Here is the official description of the book, sort of its vital statistics found on the back of the baseball card:

Product Details ISBN: 9780399155376 Subtitle: America and the World After Bush Author: Barnett, Thomas P. M. Publisher: Putnam Adult Subject: International Relations - General Subject: World politics Subject: Philosophy Subject: Government - U.S. Government Publication Date: February 2009 Binding: Hardcover Language: His very own Pages: 496

I was just taken aback by the "Philosophy" subject, because when I was reading Chapter 8 during the First Pass, I said to Warren over the phone, "It really feels like I'm philosophizing pretty intensely at the end of this book." And I have to admit, I was surprised to say that. But I think the four subjects are dead-on: definitely covers world politics and international relations, and clearly focused on how the US government runs in terms of grand strategy. I don't suppose there's an entire subject header on grand strategy, but if there is, then I was wrongly denied, because the book really is cast on that level throughout--hence the bleeding into philosophy as the book wraps up. Note: no "military strategy." Thus, I escape that ghetto, a primary goal for me professionally in this book, because I've never considered myself one and was always uncomfortably surprised when readers chose to pigeon-hole me in that category. Wasn't what I was trained to do, wasn't what I dreamed of doing as a kid, not really in my nature even as my work took me there. Don't have any problem with the field or moniker. Just never felt like it fit me. I was talking to my wife about the book, telling her I really thought it was the best thing I've ever done, and she kept saying how relieved she was, given the intense amount of angst she witnessed over the last 12 months. I guess this book really was the proving ground for me in a big way, because PNM came right out of the brief and cannibalized a lifetime's work and BFA did some of that but mostly spoke in response to the big response that PNM received. So after dumping all that, the question became, was there anything left for me to say? And what I find interesting, given the public persona, was how, when given the chance and the challenge (primarily from Neil Nyren), I went back to my basics of alternative global futures (which, in Drucker terms, is my sweet spot of skills): first the diagnosis (seven deadly sins), then the cure (12-step program), then the massive back story to reveal the biases (the American trajectory), and then the Roshomon-style (one can almost see the grid chart I must build for the brief) exploration of the recalibration, where the repetition is both purposeful and harmonic: time and time again in the text I'm offering answers that hearken back to the history, reflect one of the 12 steps, and correct one of the seven sins. By the time I hit the last chapter, it's like the song where all the themes have been woven together and you get this big finish. When I made that description to Mark, and we abandoned the futuristic end-projection (where my son delivers my eulogy in the year 2099, which was really fun to write and oddly hilarious in its own way--not sure where that ever ends up), then the notion of a "coda" made perfect sense: the crescendo having passed, you resurrect the main theme in a subdued presentation and end the beast on a long, slow, drawn-out-but-quiet note. When I read the beast now, I am stunned at its evolution. I really am. You realize what a tug of war it was with Mark and Neil and the material and my tendency to come up with out-there ideas, and it's really surprising that it works in the end. I imagine directing movies must feel somewhat like this: you head into it with all these plans and ideas and then exit on the far side with God-only-knows-what, but if you're lucky, then there it is. It's weird and sad, but when you come to moments like this, you say to yourself, "Now I can die and still be remembered for something." You pass the Roy Batty test from "Blade Runner." You've done and seen terrible and amazing things, but when you die, you realize that they'll all be lost to time, like "tears in the rain." Actor Rutger Hauer, by the way, ad-libbed the speech. It's one of the most beautiful bits of acting I've ever seen, making the entire movie (which was controversial in its edit and narration--the latter forced by the studio) work. Anyway, you realize that some of your stuff will remain.