On the Radio and Other Stuff

Well, this morning I got up bright and early to play in a brass quintet on a local radio program. The two hosts of the show are quite hilariously crazy! We all had a good time though. The two trumpets, trombone, tuba, and I (French Horn) performed a very crazy arrangement of Jingle Bells, complete with sound effects provided by others present in the studio. It was quite a fun and interesting experience.

The rest of the day involved going to work (and meeting two new employees), then class, stopping by grandparents, working out and running, and then homework. Fun stuff!

I've been reading a book lately called The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century (Amazon.com Link) by Thomas P. M. Barnett. I'm heading towards the end of it, and so far it has been very enlightening. Barnett's thesis is quite interesting and makes me think of and perceive many things in new ways. Basically, Barnett divides the world into two parts: the Functioning Core and the Non-Integrating Gap. The Core is where globalization and connectedness are the way of life. The Gap is where globalization and connectedness have yet to reach. Click here to see the map: Pentagon's_New_Map.jpg
Here is an article by the author written for a popular magazine offering a brief synopsis of the ideas presented in the book: Magazine Article Link

Wikipedia has the following to say about the book:

"Key ideas:

1. Systems of rules called Rule-sets reduce violent conflict. Violence decreases as rules are established (e.g., the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding) for dealing with international conflicts.
2. The world can be roughly divided into two groups: the Functioning Core, characterized by economic interdependence, and the Non-Integrated Gap, characterized by unstable leadership and absence from international trade. The Core can be sub-divided into Old Core (North America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia) and New Core (China, India). The Disconnected Gap includes the Middle East, South Asia (except India), most of Africa, Southeast Asia, and northwest South America.
3. Integration of the Gap countries into the global economy will provide opportunities for individuals living in the Gap to improve their lives, thereby presenting a desirable alternative to violence and terrorism. The US military is the only force capable of providing the military support to facilitate this integration by serving as the last ditch rule-enforcer. Barnett argues that it has been doing so for over 20 years by "exporting" security (US spends about half of the world's total in military spending).
4. To be successful the US military must stop thinking of war in the context of war but war in the context of "everything else", i.e. demographics, energy, investment, security, politics, trade, immigration, etc.
5. In recognition of its dual role, the US military should organize itself according to two functions, the "Leviathan" and the "System Administrator."
• Leviathan's purpose is employ overwhelming force to end violence quickly. It will take out governments, defend Core countries, and generally do the deterrence work that the US military has been doing since the end of WWII. The Leviathan force is primarily staffed by young aggressive personnel and is overwhelmingly American.
• The SysAdmin's purpose is to wage peace: peacekeeping, nation building, strengthening weak governments, etc. The SysAdmin force is primarily staffed by older, more experienced personnel, though not entirely (he would put the Marines in SysAdmin as the " Mini-me Leviathan"). The sys Admin force would work best as a Core-wide phenomenon.
6. By exporting security, the US and the rest of the Core benefit from increased trade, increased international investment, and other benefits."

Barnett has already written a sequal entitled Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating (Amazon.com Link). I'll plan to read that one as well in the not too distant future.

All in all, the Core-Gap thesis appears to be a sound way of describing the current dichotomous nature of the world. It is also a positive outlook toward a "future worth creating" where all people are free to choose their level of connectivity with globalization and the global economy as a whole.