a) Pakistan is in much worse shape than many other states in the Gap
b) The Gap also encompasses states such as Venezuela and Russia

This makes it important to find the best of the Gap states, and attempt to move them up to the Seam, in the same way that we take Seam states, and try to move them into the New Core.

Engaging Iran has the benefit of limiting the bad effects of two major Gap actors (Russia and Pakistan), as well as potentially lifting one Gap state up to the Seam (Iran itself).

Instead of a brute firewall, some form of smart filtering is probably more appropriate.

It isn't that we are surprised, but more that we are looking for what comes next. Bhutto's death is not a surprise because militants had promised to kill her should she return to Pakistan. Add to that the fact that she allied herself with Musharraf, and her list of enemies increases exponentially, including Musharraf himself, who as you noted in Soob's blog likely was responsible through an act of omission, as in not supplying her with enough security, a constant complaint of hers.

As for firewalling ourselves from the Islamic Gap, I think Barnett has argued that such a move will not work since the pain will eventually make it to our shores.

I'm not sure our relationship with India (or China for that matter) would allow us to simply firewall Pakistan. Maybe sans nukes but as it stands…

Thus, it seems that truly bad ideas in the Muslim world take two generations to discredit themselves.

We can wait out Islamism for a similar time period, while we concentrate on the softer target of Africa for integration.

NYkrinDC,

Of course the pain will reach our shores. Sadly, the sort of renching social reform the Muslim world needs will increase the generated pain in the near and medium term. We need to make sure the feedback of the Muslim world goes back into the muslim world, and isn't allowed to export itself to us.

Jay,

I'm not sure it's possible for the muslim world to lose enough infrastructure to fall to African levels. Frankly, I doubt it. Fortunately, all we need to do is wait out the current really bad idea (and keep doing so until they stabilize in some form of corrupt system that we can work with.)

Interesting typo, that.

“I'm not sure how much her death has to do with her gender – my guess is that it was all politics.”

Why are sex and politics distinct categories?

Dan,

LOL! I guess that was the first Freudian skepticism-of-public-diplomacy Slip!