The Solution to Terrorism

Modern-day terrorism is another problem that cannot be solved by appealing to outdated nation-state methods. People whose brains are hopelessly stuck in the past suggest invading and / or closing borders. They resist the realization that there is no country to bomb and no borders to close because the threat exists on an entirely different plane. The threat isn’t constrained by borders and countries and the solution can’t be either.

We will waste precious time on discussing these nation era fantasies instead of looking for solutions that might work in our fluid times. Anybody who turns to nation-state rhetoric to discuss these issues is wasting our time.

The solution will only be found once we all collectively adopt a new way of thinking that breaks with the old nation-state model.

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18 responses to “The Solution to Terrorism ”

July 15, 2016

Regarding Philip Bobbitt, has he written anything about Russia-Ukraine situation? Wikipedia says his latest article is from 2010, and his latest book from 2013 is about distant past – “Machiavelli and the World That He Made.” I hoped he had a blog, a column in a newspaper, something. 😦

Have you also read “Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century”?

In “The Shield of Achilles,” Bobbitt claims the long war of the 20th century has ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Is it still true, considering Russia’s latest behavior? (I suppose yes, but you have written FSU’s dissolution was a sham in many ways.)

In that book, Bobbitt has also stressed the importance of cooperation with Russia and wrote that Americans should help train Russian soldiers to follow standards of the modern warfare. F.e. to become able of minimizing enemy’s losses while taking control of territory.

I wonder what he is thinking now. Here is an example of somebody capable to help people on the street to inform themselves, but he is silent. 😦

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Clarissa

July 15, 2016

“Have you also read “Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century”?”

Yes. It’s not as good, however. The main idea is what I said in my most recent post. Which is an important insight but not really enough to fill a whole book.

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1. el
  
  July 15, 2016
  
  \The main idea is what I said in my most recent post. Which is an important insight but not really enough to fill a whole book.
  
  Does he propose any solutions?
  
  You mentioned “the need for radically new solutions.” I thought it was the task of people like Bobbitt to advise the politicians. I don’t expect the latter to be too deep thinkers.
  
  For instance, Yair Lapid, a former news anchor and a former Israeli Minister of Finance, “dropped out of high school” and “never earned a bagrut (high school matriculation certificate).” He afterwards went to university via a special (and currently cancelled by the Council for Higher Education) program, but still…
  
  You may dislike Benjamin Netanyahu, but he is no fool or a Trump-like clown. Before going into politics, he “fought on the front lines” in wars, “achieved the rank of captain before being discharged” and then “graduated from MIT with Bachelor of Science (SB) and Master of Science (SM) degrees”.
  
  I respect him walking the walk, instead of only talking for propaganda. Served as a combat soldier himself and his brother Yonatan Netanyahu died leading Operation Entebbe. His family wasn’t shielded from the conflict, whatever one thinks of his political views.
  
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  1. Clarissa
    
    July 15, 2016
    
    I have no special respect for people who have killed. Even if it was state-sanctioned killing. They are all unhinged. They should be in therapy, not in office.
    
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    1. el
      
      July 15, 2016
      
      \ people who have killed. Even if it was state-sanctioned killing. They are all unhinged. They should be in therapy, not in office.
      
      A very post-nation state position of a person in a society devoid of large conflict. For citizens of classic nation-states agreeing with such is simply impossible. Israel has a draft, citizens often are the ones to stop terrorists, each of us may once be killed or have to kill / seriously injure a terrorist.
      
      In Israel:
      
      \ The IDF is one of Israeli society’s most prominent institutions, influencing the country’s economy, culture and political scene. In 1965, the Israel Defense Forces was awarded the Israel Prize for its contribution to education. [wiki]
      
      \ A considerable number of ex-generals (Yigal Allon, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Ezer Weizmann, Yigal Yadin, Haim Bar-Lev, Arik Sharon, Ehud Barak) have gone on to become cabinet ministers, and others lead smaller political parties. Retired Generals have also headed a large number of state-owned corporations and agencies. The military and political elites are linked socially, giving high officers direct access to political leaders.
      http://www.jewishagency.org/society-and-politics/content/36591
      
      Btw, the link I gave is very good at describing “The Role of the Military in Israel.”
      
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      1. Clarissa
        
        July 15, 2016
        
        The belief that the best soldiers make the best governors is not even from the nation-state era. It’s from the feudal times.
        
        The countries where the military is the most powerful (traditionally, that’s Hispanic societies) are the most solidly stuck in third-world status. Soldiers make notoriously bad rulers, actually, no matter what our medieval forbears thought.
        
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cliff arroyo

July 15, 2016

What makes you think that anyone in power wants to “solve” the problem of terrorism.

The consistent message form leaders in Europe is “This is normal now, get used to it”

They don’t use those words precisely but random groups of civilians getting killed by occasional terrorists (not to mention sexual attacks on women) are an inherent part of the emerging post nation state model in Europe and not some extraordinary thing that those who are determined to end the nation state care about.

The state is disinvesting in education, law, and so it’s natural that the protection of citizens comes next on the list of things governments aren’t going to worry about.

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Clarissa

July 15, 2016

“What makes you think that anyone in power wants to “solve” the problem of terrorism.”

Exactly. 😦 You are absolutely right. I am 100% certain that the elected leaders of the developed countries are all very well aware of the need for radically new solutions. But they don’t want to look for these new solutions because such solutions will inevitably undermine their own power. If the nation-state is less relevant, then its leader is less relevant, too. They will hang on to their fictions of the bygone era until there is literally nothing to hang on to any longer.

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1. el
  
  July 15, 2016
  
  After reading Bobbitt’s book, I am still unsure why a constant, relatively low level of terrorism can’t become a new normal in market-states. The states’ governments will have to protect infrustructure and international firms’ operations in order to be attractive on the international level and thus maximize opportunities for their citizens. However, why should a limited government of a market-state ensure safety for every ethnic / poor ghetto area, which isn’t done in practice even by much more ambitious nation-states’ governments?
  
  Bobbitt himself, iirc, mentioned private police / security services in his book. Richer people in richer areas will use the opportunity to employ a private police force (already the case in some places in America), while poor citizens will have to live with poor education, health care, security and so on. Governments will ensure the protection of only vitally important (for the state) things. It does not contradict “maximizing opportunities” idea.
  
  \I am 100% certain that the elected leaders of the developed countries are all very well aware of the need for radically new solutions.
  
  Do you have any offers of solutions?
  
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  1. Clarissa
    
    July 15, 2016
    
    “However, why should a limited government of a market-state ensure safety for every ethnic / poor ghetto area, which isn’t done in practice even by much more ambitious nation-states’ governments?”
    
    To gain legitimacy. Governments need to derive their legitimacy from something. In the times of absolutism, for instance, rules derived their legitimacy from God investing them with power. Nation-states derive legitimacy from taking care of the welfare of the people. Since there is no more God-given power and no more guaranteed welfare, there should be another source of legitimacy for governments. Bobbitt suggests that governments could derive legitimacy from responding to global threats: terrorism, viruses, digital hacking, etc.
    
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el

July 15, 2016

\ The consistent message form leaders in Europe is “This is normal now, get used to it” They don’t use those words precisely but …

Manuel Valls said: “Times have changed and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm. France has been hit in its soul on the 14 July, our national day. They wanted to attack the unity of the French nation. The only dignified response is that France will remain loyal to the spirit of the 14 July and its values.”
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016-07-15/french-pm-france-is-at-war-with-terrorists/

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cliff arroyo

July 15, 2016

Sort of relevant: An article in the Polish press a few days ago was about a woman who, iwth her husband, had purchased a building in Northern Bavaria in 2008 or 2009 in order to restore it as a boutique hotel for the flourishing tourist market there.

She said that as early as 2012 the German government was hunting for buildings like the one they owned to turn them into refugee centers. All those in the area with sizeable buildings were encouraged to sell. Of course they had no idea what the government was doing this for as there were no refugees.
She even briefly thought (after Maidan and the invasion of Crimea) that Putin was headed westward and that Ukrainians and Poles would be refugees.
It wasn’t until Merkel invited anyone brave enough to board a raft to get drom Turkey to Greece that it started to make sense…..

After they started settling refugees in the area the tourist value was destroyed and when they finally gave up and wanted to sell the hotel the German government was the only buyer.

They then had to keep watch 24 hours a day to keep the villagers from burning it down (they say it’s not any “right wing party” that’s burning down centers, it’s a grassroots movement against the government.

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July 15, 2016

Just saw this and have a few thoughts:

\ Prime Minister Netanyahu has filmed a new video, uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube, in which he implores Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to denounce terrorism and work with Netanyahu towards the establishment of peace.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4828835,00.html

Of course, it’s a piece of propaganda. The PM does not expect to see any changes and probably made this solely for Western audiences.

However, here we have an example of one national leader choosing to communicate with another and with Westerners not via official channels but via a privately-owned, commercial, international website. Seems to suit your post on a market-state.

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July 15, 2016

\The countries where the military is the most powerful (traditionally, that’s Hispanic societies) are the most solidly stuck in third-world status. Soldiers make notoriously bad rulers, actually, no matter what our medieval forbears thought.

A few notes:

1) Not all our politicians are former soldiers. I think Israeli political situation is very different from that of Hispanic societies (don’t know anything about them so can’t compare, unfortunately) and hopefully we won’t reach 3rd world status anytime soon.

2) One wonders whether a former general, who proved his ability to think creatively and rationally, isn’t a better choice than a standard market-state politician a la Trump with the only proven ability of running an entertaining reality show for passive spectators-citizens. At least, that’s how I understood your predictions for future politicians, that future politicians will be less Lincoln-like (who served as a captain) and more Trump-like (who was happy not to serve).

3) Probably unlike in Hispanic societies, Israeli politicians’ most important task is managing the conflict. Even economy may come second since rockets are very bad for it and economy itself depends on Middle-East conflict’s management. Usually, people who reached high ranks in IDF have the deepest understanding of the realities on the ground.

Ironically, quite a few former IDF and Mossad (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) commanders have much more Left wing and much more practical (imo) views than the significant majority of Israeli public. They are less likely to buy militaristic, hubris-filled slogans since they experienced and studied the reality of the conflict for both sides more than anybody else.

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Clarissa

July 15, 2016

I’m not talking about any particular country but about the general principle that soldiers make good politicians. That principle, I believe, is very outdated.

If your more important task is to manage the conflict, you will keep manufacturing conflict because that’s all you are good at.

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1. cliff arroyo
  
  July 15, 2016
  
  “that soldiers make good politicians”
  
  Some military experience doesn’t necessarily hurt, but the last US skilled career military man who was also good at politics was maybe Eisenhower (pres from 1952-60). Not a great leader but not the worst either.
  
  Interestingly, a lot of his success in the military came from his legendary ability to do nothing in a crisis (let the crisis work itself out without intervention whenever possible) for which quality he wasn’t necessarily loved by other generals….
  
  Colin Powell might have had potential if he had joined the democratic party instead of getting mixed up with W.
  
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July 15, 2016

\ EL – However, why should a limited government of a market-state ensure safety for every ethnic / poor ghetto area
\ CLARISSA – Bobbitt suggests that governments could derive legitimacy from responding to global threats: terrorism, viruses, digital hacking, etc.

Should governments monitor then every “depressed and unstable” divorcee, especially if s/he has financial problems? Or every weird person who does not respond when neighbors say hello and is seen by the latter as “strange, and even frightening”? Here, a usual profile of a contemporary terrorist:

Divorced, depressed, aggressive: The Nice attacker exposed
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4828868,00.html

I understand how market-state governments may protect infrustructure, fight epidemics and care for environment. I understand how they may work against ISIS, probably mainly by hurting the organization’s money supply. I do not see how one may predict in advance which one of the millions who (will) fail in the market-state world will become violent and when. Even Orwell’s Big Brother wouldn’t be able to achieve that goal.

It will be possible with robots and flying mini-drones of the future to take out a threat very fast, the moment s/he attacks and cameras in the weapons catch that. But to stop before the deed, especially when the “weapon” is a usual day-to-day thing as a car? May be, once cars drive themselves w/o human interference, they won’t be possible to use in such a way. But there will be other things.

Also, your description seems to be idealistic. As if, only with zero terror acts, future governments may have legitimacy. Israel has it with much more than zero terror. OK, my country could be seen as the old European nation-state model, but still… when have governments functioned ideally? For instance, not every society is as rich as America, yet their peoples usually loved their nation states fine enough. Market-states will do a lot and derive legitimacy from that, even without stopping every terrorist or achieving a world with zero hacking.

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Clarissa

July 15, 2016

There is absolutely no connection between economic success or its lack and these sorts of outburst. These acts of terror are happening in societies where people can live quite well without needing to work. Let’s not slip into the rhetoric of “These poor dispossessed.” It’s not about a reaction to any sort of economic hardship. Let’s remember that it’s the bored and the overfed that run away to ISIS from their lives of opulence.

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