Barnett Breaks Down the Mump* Revolution
In a post last year, I mentioned that I had rediscovered Thomas P. M. Barnett on substack. I just finished reading his new book, and plan to review it here soon. But first, I wanted to mention this recent post from him about the nature of the “Trump revolution” – the radical and destructive change that this administration is bringing:
Trump’s quadruple-decker sandwich
He lists out four specific revolutions:
1) Trump seeks to detach America from virtually all of its security obligations across the Eastern Hemisphere and focus on a truly aggressive drug cartel war in our hemisphere.
2) Trump seeks to re-negotiate America’s trade relations with the entire world through trade wars.
3) Trump seeks to trigger a Cultural Revolution inside America that simply defines all sorts of “undesirables” out of existence (e.g., Two sexes only! No DEI because zero racism! No foreigners because we only speak American here!).
4) Trump is dismantling the USG with no hint of what is going to replace all the discarded functions and roles and responsibilities.
He then points out how these revolutions dangerously combine, since there is no plan or forethought involved. Here’s two examples; click through to the post for more:
1+4: You hamstring our military and intelligence community in your destruction of the USG and HOPE Putin doesn’t take advantage as you seek to dump Ukraine. Putin keeps his word, right? He’s famous for it, plus he and Trump were similarly traumatized by Russia-gate!
1+2: You want allies to step up and pick up the slack created by America’s withdrawal from the world and you’re attacking their economies at the same time!
This is why I like Barnett and subscribe to his substack. He just gets to the point directly and frankly. Also the pop culture references. So Gen X!
*”Mump” was coined by Timothy Snyder to describe what I have called the current diumvirate. Hey, this is an era of reinvention!
2 thoughts on “Barnett Breaks Down the Mump* Revolution”
Thank you for introducing me to Barnett and his work. I looked him up.
I also asked ChatGPT about Ukraine war.
Putin’s Strategic Failure
Instead of weakening NATO and expanding Russia’s influence, the invasion has:
1. Strengthened Western alliances.
2. Damaged Russia’s economy and military reputation.
3. Pushed Ukraine closer to the West.
While Putin has consolidated power in the short term, his long-term legacy remains uncertain, especially if battlefield losses, economic struggles, or internal dissent escalate.
Barnett PhD, thinks at a strategic and global level like a chess player. Trump uses transactions and personal relationships because the only thing he cares about is attention. Just ask Mary Trump, his niece. With Trump and tariffs, he wins both ways. impose tariffs, he gets attention. Remove tariffs and pretend he’s the hero and he gets attention.
The “Trump Revolution” is not a strategy. They are all independent transactions that create chaos.