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Friday, May 21, 2004 |
 Philip Bobbitt, author of The Shield of Achilles, on the rise of the market-state:
The “market-state” is the latest constitutional order, one that is just emerging in a struggle for primacy with the dominant constitutional order of the 20th century, the nation-state. Whereas the nation-state based its legitimacy on a promise to better the material well-being of the nation, the market-state promises to maximize the opportunity of each individual citizen.
The current conflict is one of several possible wars of the market-states as they seek to open up societies to trade in commerce, ideas, and immigration which excite hostility in those groups that want to use law to enforce religious or ethnic orthodoxy.
States make war, not brigands; and the Al Qaeda network is a sort of virtual state, with a consistent source of finance, a recognized hierarchy of officials, foreign alliances, an army, published laws, even a rudimentary welfare system. It has declared war on the U.S. for much the same reason that Japan did in 1941: because we appear to frustrate its ambitions to regional hegemony.
8:48:06 PM 
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I like this. Steven Mason looks at decision making within an environment of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement (PDF).
4:48:57 PM
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Given the gravity of the global war on terrorism and Iraq, you would think that the government would be willing to hire-in America's best and brightest. No such luck. I was talking with a senior government official this morning and he told me that while there is a huge need for high quality/experienced people, he can't hire them. The reason is two-fold:
- In order to qualify for any senior job in the government you need a current security clearance.
- He can't interview or reject people hired by contractors that meet the very basic requirements of the job (ie. the most restrictive of which is a security clearance).
The result is that low-quality internal candidates are being pushed up through the US defense establishment to levels of responsibility that exceed their capabilities. You can't fight a war of this magniture with a half-assed effort like this. Where's the program to get the best and the brightest involved???
11:53:17 AM
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NRO. Michael Rubin, a political advisor to the CPA, provides another view of the raids on Chalabi (this may represent the neocon view). He faults Bremer.
11:08:23 AM
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Global Guerrilla Airpower. Ultralights, in combination with homemade HERF weapons, turn global guerrilla swarmers into a highly effective mobile fighting force capable of taking on everything from a single facility to a city. With this "killer combo", global guerrillas can become strategic threats to nation-states. Within the context of swarming operations, this is repeatable formula of operations against which there is little defense.
10:15:28 AM
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Reuters. Spanish troops are gone as of today. Who's next??
8:13:59 AM
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PM. The US fatalities in Iraq are low because of one thing: body armor. Upwards of 80% of life threatening injuries are to the arms and legs. The low KIA (killed in action) numbers enabled by body armor conceal the level of violence in the country. Of course the elite guerrillas (the core fighters that have learned from the mistakes of the cannon fodder thrown at us over the last year) are starting to use body armor too.
7:45:54 AM
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WP. For perhaps 72 hours after 8:45 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001, Rudy Giuliani played the role of acting president of the United States.
7:32:58 AM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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