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MTV and the Core-Gap thesis 

Thomas Barnett, purveyor of the Core-Gap thesis,
has become a voluminous weblogger and a must read for those interested in geopolitical instability.

First gem from today:

“Good tidbit from my old Pentagon boss Art Cebrowski: he says he was invited recently to brief Bill Gates and a host of his business friends from around the world. He gives them the Core-Gap thesis and describes the military-market nexus (the Decalogue). The response? As always, the business world gets that stuff intuitively. That’s why I say this new vision I push is not mine but the world’s: it’s a reality I capture, not a dream I concoct. It’s happening and will happen within the Defense Department not because people like myself advocate it, but because the environment simply demands it from us.

“And if you think that makes me an economic determinist, you’re right. Doesn’t mean I ignore irrational actors. In fact, it just means they are naturally cast as the enemy in this grand historical process. To not ‘get’ this reality is simply to be irrational on some level, unless you think it’s some grand accident of history that the global economy has developed and spread around the planet in the manner that it has over the last century and a half.”

And slightly more way out, on the relationship between MTV and globalisation: “When MTV steps out ahead of the pack (but not much, considering Bravo and Showtime) to announce a new network aimed at gays, it pushes the envelope not just within our borders, but ultimately — through its inevitable extension — throughout the Core. And yes, like McDonald’s or other key content ‘global’ networks, the spread of MTV (and all its regional variants) around the world is a decent proxy measure of globalization’s advance—namely, the extent of the Core.”

Server change 

I’ve changed the host of Davos Newbies, and there are a few problems as the change propagates through the Domain Name Server system. I hope normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

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