TPM Barnett: Good News as Cuba Liberalizes, Mugabe Plans His Exit and China Set to Become our Closet Ally

Ever get the sense that the world’s going to hell in a hand basket? For a change, there may be some good news. 1st, the trendline in Cuba is looking good. 2nd, the end of Robert Mugabe may be in sight. Finally, quit worrying about China, they have the potential to become our greatest ally. All this from Thomas P.M. Barnett whose works on America and globalization should be in every thinking man’s library.

For those who haven't read Barnett's works, he puts a premium on political stability and economic intergration as the keys to prosperity and standards of living in the 21st century. Of course the biggest threats to these come from those left behind in the non-intergrating gap in the Middle East and elsewhere. Bring these countries stability by working with natural stability-allies like China and Russia and you solve most of the worlds' problems. Not a bad thesis... has some potential problems where the rubber meets the road, but not a bad framework at all.