Informed Speculation

Nay, ’tis half-full, says Michael Barone:

The world seems aswirl. Where do we stand today?

Let’s use the analysis of bestselling author Thomas Barnett, who divides the world into a functioning “Core” (North America, Europe, East Asia, rising China and India) and a nonfunctional “Gap” (the Middle East, most of Africa, part of the Andean chain in South America). Barnett argues that our task is to expand the economically interconnected core and establish what he calls connectivity to shrink the gap.

How are we doing? Actually, not badly.

…Even so, most Americans continue to moan and groan about our situation, and to yearn for the holiday from history we seemed to be enjoying in the 1990s. As Barnett argues, “Time is on our side, as are all the major dynamics that count — energy, investments, demographics, sheer firepower, enduring ingenuity, strength of our societies, our enduring resilience.” With fits and starts, the core is expanding, connectivity is increasing, and the gap is closing. 

There’s lots of good bits there in the middle that you should read for yourself…