"The Brief" back in 2002, before Esquire article, before the book, before everything

Gave this brief to the student body of the Naval War College at the request of the president, Admiral Rod Rempt, who introduces me. This is the basic brief I developed for Art Cebrowski while working as his Assistant for Strategic Futures in the Office of Force Transformation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2001-2003.

Spot the comments I make WRT mentor and good friend/colleague Bradd Hayes.  Why? I had just given an interview to a local paper (Newport Daily News) following my selection as Esquire's Best and Brightest. The writer did a job on me, quoting all the self-congratulatory stuff and skipping all the paired self-deprecating comments.  Lesson for me: If you give a reporter the rope, he or she will hang you.

Not that I've ever done that as a journalist . . ..

My old Y2K brief

This was taped by USIA for use in US embassies around the world in the summer of 1999.  USIA was shuttered for good in September of that year.  Coincidence?  All part of the Y2K conspiracy!

Brief runs almost two hours.  We had to mute the REM song for the closing credits.  I'm sure you can guess the title.

It was a fun brief that I gave close to 100 times around the world across 1999.

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" 2011 brief: the Brief in full

Can be found in this post and on this permanent page, also linked to from the navigation bar above. Or you can go to the YouTube pages directly, as linked on the left navigation bar below.

No, it's no longer exactly the brief I give now.  I've already made about 50 changes. But that's the nature of the beast: it is always evolving and new versions constantly emerge. 

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" brief

Video segments of September 2011 briefing by Tom to an international military audience in the Washington DC area.

Part 1: The Pentagon's New Map

Part 2: The Flow of People

Part 3: The Flow of Money

Part 4: The Flow of Energy

Part 5: The Flow of Food

Part 6: The Flow of Security

Part 7: (Q&A) The Role of Religion

Part 8: (Q&A) Global Economic Crisis

Part 9 - Final: (Q&A) Postwar Operations & US Allies

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" 2011 brief, Part 5 (Flow of Food)

In this section of the brief I explore water and how it connects to grain-production centers of gravity, how climate change will impact the flow of food, how that flow will surpass the flow of energy in global importance in the future, and how the Western Hemisphere evolves as a result of its incredible water advantage.

Why You Should See "The Brief"

Fellow Readers,

I first stumbled across "The Brief" via YouTube five years ago, where I was introduced to Dr. Barnett’s theories, then his books and finally this blog, which instantly became part of my daily reading.

Tom became a major influence on how I think about the world, so when founding Wikistrat I reached out to Tom for advice. At that time I had no idea that he would one day join the team as Wikistrat’s Chief Analyst. He's been instrumental in helping us build our company ever since.

Last month I was finally able to watch Tom deliver The Brief live. The latest version centers on the Five Strategic Flows driving Globalization's advance in the coming decades. The presentation was actually constructed around material Tom penned within the Wikistrat model almost a year ago.

The verdict? A very different (and much better) experience than watching it on my computer screen: Aside from how fascinating Tom's insightful analysis is, The Brief is a work of performance art.

So, to anyone who's ever asked to see it live: I suggest you get down to CSIS offices tonight where Tom will be presenting one of the few briefs made open to the public. The event is being kindly hosted by our friends at YPFP (Young Professionals in Foreign Policy) at CSIS offices in downtown DC.

http://www.ypfp.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1348

RSVP: events@ypfp.org

7pm at 1800 K St. NW.

Tom, myself and others from the Wikistrat team look forward to seeing you there.

Joel Zamel

CEO

Wikistrat

(Visit www.wikistrat.com to learn more about online community of strategic thinkers which serves as the web's first Massively Multiplayer Online Consultancy)

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" 2011 brief, Part 4 (Flow of Energy)

This section of the brief explores how urbanization and infrastructure development is shaping globalization, how Asia is the natural integrator of future globalization across the Gap, and how China's and America's interests overlap in the future evolution of Africa.

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" 2011 brief, Part 3 (Flow of Money)

This section of the brief focuses on the rise of the global middle class, the evolution of national economies, why China won't "rule the world" for all that long, and what the future evolution of East Asia holds.

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" 2011 brief, Part 2 (Flow of People)

Part two of the Sept 2011 briefing to international military audience in Washington DC area. This section focused on the flow of people as captured in Wikistrat's GLOMOD (online, wiki-based "global model" of globalization), then moves on to the inevitabilities surrounding demographic aging, then explores how demography drives the Arab Spring, and then offers a regional evolution projection for the Middle East.

Wikistrat's "The World According to Tom Barnett" 2011 brief, Part 1 (Pentagon's New Map)

Delivered in Washington to an international military audience, September 2011.

We'll roll out the rest of the brief over the next couple of weeks. This section covers the introduction and my concepts regarding globalization's Core and Gap.