By THOMAS P.M. BARNETT, Scripps Howard News Service

One of the main problems in counterterrorism today is that there are so many people and vehicles, and so much data and material, moving through globalization's myriad networks that it seems virtually impossible to track it all effectively. Nowhere has this problem been more acute than on the high seas.

As the Bush administration winds down and Americans feel real accomplishment on Iraq after years of tough slogging, here's a dozen lessons learned for our nation.1) War is easy, but peace is hard.

The weeks-long Iraq war of 2003, which America won hands-down, had no impact on our defense establishment. The far harder and years-long Iraq postwar has triggered a sea change. Let me walk you through a couple of examples I've recently encountered.

Americans suspect grand motives behind foreign policy. We sense our innate exceptionalism as the world's oldest and most successful multinational economic and political union, but we're reluctant about spreading that example, believing it smacks of imperialism.

With American combat troops now slated to depart Iraq by 2011, our intervention moves into its final phase, with the crucial goal being the expansion of economic opportunity for ordinary citizens. Our--and Iraq's--success here will determine the likelihood of our military's return down the road under less favorable circumstances.

The West's re-demonization of Russia is in full swing, with aging advocates barely able to conceal their glee in resurrecting the "good old days." It's a sad commentary on our grand strategic thinking that we so blithely add back the Cold War to our already full plate of global security interests.

It is said that you can line up all the world's economists end-to-end and still never reach a conclusion. However, one crucial consensus seems to be emerging in recent years among market watchers: the Reagan era of deregulation is coming to an end.

Recent diplomatic efforts by the White House with both North Korea and Iran -- nuclear newbies and remaining members of the "axis of evil" -- strike many as the Bush administration's desperate grab for legacy. But I see a different strategic reality emerging, one that will steer the next president's course whether he likes it or not.

Two new reports about our world reiterate the overwhelmingly positive impact of globalization upon our planet, making it more peaceful and more just.

The Wall Street Journal's European edition opines that the transatlantic bond remains "robust" despite President George W. Bush's supposed unilateralism. Harsh anti-Americanism, like that of France's Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder, is out and pragmatic pro-Americanism is in -- see replacements Nicholas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel.