Jan 13, 2010

By 2

Failure as a Strategy

Some thinking on terrorism that may be of interest:The recent al Qaeda sponsored attempt to blow up an Northwest Airways flight is an example of an interesting, but likely inadvertent strategy:  failure.  Given the earlier example of 9/11, even failed attacks provide the following benefits:New and sweeping rules on airline passengers (most inane) and beefed up security.New...

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Jan 12, 2010

By 4

You are in Control

There’s a great article in Time magazine by Amanda Ripley (I wrote a review of her great book, The Unthinkable in the City Journal) on one of the most under covered security lessons of 9/11:  that an aware citizenry can defend itself.  It ends with this telling para which depicts the government reasserting its authority to prop up its legitimacy:After the passengers...

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Jul 27, 2009

By 0

John Robb on Open Source Warfare

“Emergent Intelligence in Open Source Warfare”by John Robbfrom Global Guerrillas, February 11, 2006Open source warfare, like what we see in Iraq and increasingly in other locations, relies on networks of peers rather than the hierarchies of command and control we see in conventional militaries. This structure provides an open source movement with levels of innovation...

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Jul 15, 2009

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Containing Chaos

From World Politics Review, July 7, 2009In 1946, George Kennan keyed the famous “Long Telegram,” which identified the Soviet Union as an enemy of the United States. In 1947, the original telegram was reworked and published in Foreign Policy magazine as “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Together, these documents formed the codex for the U.S. Cold War strategy...

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Jul 13, 2009

By 1

John Robb on Tribalism

Editor’s Note: The following discussion of tribalism is from John Robb’s blog Global Guerrillas, which is a treasure trove of information and analysis on the weaknesses and dissolution of globalism and the present American political-economic system, as well as on ways in which individuals and groups might (1) hasten the system’s demise and (2) begin practicing...

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