What Barnett's books end up revealing is the combination of moral blindness and international political hubris that characterizes the whole quest for American world empire, a quest initiated by the neo-cons. Like the (other?) neo-cons, Barnett sees the world and its cultures in Jacobin terms, as a combination of Rousseau's natural goodness of man and Newtonian clockwork mechanism. Just twist a few dials here, throw a couple of levers there and presto!, Switzerlands spring up from Ouagadougou to the Hindu Kush.
It's piffle, pure and all too simple. Unfortunately, it is dangerous piffle, both in the evil that would result if it worked and the catastrophes that will come when it doesn't. Real Fourth Generation theory counsels caution, prudence and a clear grasp on the limits of American power in a world where the state itself is in decline.
Regrettably, in the uneducated and nostrum-hungry powerhouse that is Washington, Barnett's piffle is just the sort of patent medicine that sells.
-William Lind review of Thomas Barnett's The Pentagon’s New Map and Blueprint for Action
Barnett responds with something less than calm reasoned argument:
pathetic cribbing...almost Frey-nian hubris...Where I come from, they call this lying. I will call it intellectually dishonest and leave it at that...Lind is so fucking lazy...his profound arrogance...analytically fraudulent... goofily off-base...just like our deer-in-the-headlights Mr. Frey...Try to make that one go away, Mr. Frey—I mean, Lind!... so comical...Quite the boner...equally queer but far more laughable...His cute little "(other?) neo-cons" reference is about the only honest sentiment he expresses in the "review"...expecting Mr. Lind to rise above the level of your average Amazon.com blowhard was just too much...That boner only would have required...the old Hill staffer...his dutiful ignorance...your average 58-year-old...Lind is the Director (director, mind you!)...How's that for living in the real world?...Lind-the-non-operator...Don't get the impression I'm mad, because I'm not...it's actually fun when someone that pompous pulls their pants down, bends over, and dares you to put your size 13 up their...
