Timeline Infographic Summary: “Barnett’s Vision to Today’s Global Developments”
1. 2004: Publication of “The Pentagon’s New Map” by Thomas P.M. Barnett
- Key Concept: Division of the world into “Functioning Core” (integrated economies) and “Non-Integrating Gap” (disconnected, unstable regions).
- Vision: Use U.S. military power and economic globalization to shrink the “Gap” and create a more stable, secure, and interconnected world.
2. 2004-2008: “Shock and Awe” Implementation Attempt
- Events: Iraq War and broader Middle East interventions.
- Objective: Restructure the “Gap” regions to align with Core standards (open markets, security cooperation).
- Reality: Rise of insurgency, sectarian violence, unintended destabilization.
3. 2008-2012: The Pivot to Asia and Strategic Redirection
- Events: U.S. military begins “pivot to Asia” under Obama administration.
- Shift: Focus increasingly moves toward balancing China’s rise rather than integrating the “Gap.”
- Economic Ties: Massive expansion of global supply chains, especially through China.
4. 2010s: Technology as a Tool of Integration and Control
- Developments: Big Tech emerges as a de facto “soft empire,” spreading Western values but also data-driven surveillance models.
- Result: New “digital gap” emerges between data-sovereign Core countries and disconnected or manipulated populations.
5. 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerates Global Control Measures
- Impact: Massive acceleration of digitization, surveillance, and centralization of authority in “Core” nations.
- “Gap Shrinking” Reframed: Rather than military force, global elites push for digital control (ID systems, health passes, social credit prototypes).
6. 2022-2025: Decline of American Hegemony; Multipolar World Emerges
- Events: Russia-Ukraine conflict, China-Russia alliance strengthening.
- Outcome: Fragmentation of Barnett’s “Functioning Core” vision; regional blocks (BRICS+, Belt and Road) challenge Western unipolar dominance.
7. 2025 and Beyond: New Models of “Global Integration”
- Trends:
- Techno-authoritarianism in Core countries.
- “Sovereignism” resurgence in some Gap and Core nations.
- Battle between centralized digital empires vs decentralized human communities.
Summary Insight:
- Barnett’s vision foresaw the need for global integration but underestimated the backlash, the complexity of cultural systems, and the costs of imposing “integration” by force or elite design.
- Today’s world is not a clean “Core vs Gap” but a messy battlefield of competing models for what “globalization” even means: authoritarian tech control, regional spheres of influence, or renewed sovereignty movements.
