Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Barnett On Gap Space

"Progressively shrinking the Gap will be this country's primary global-security task in the 21st Century. Our long-term export of security into those Gap areas -- namely, Central Asia and the Mideast -- that present the greatest potential disruptions to the Core's economic functioning will inevitably rival our Cold War efforts in Europe and Northeast Asia. To accomplish this task, we must be explicit with both friends and foes alike about how we will necessarily differentiate between our security role within the Core's burgeoning security community and the one we assume whenever we intervene militarily in the Gap. Seeking two sets of rules for these different security roles is not being hypocritical but honest and realistic." [ But we may only have the Golden Hour to do it -- and we have no certain way to know how many precious few seconds are left... ]