Christopher Keys -- Critique of Manifesto, Explanation of Extremes

(I think the Blog activation isn't automated, so this is Chris Keys posting on Allison Wright's account.) I think that, overall, the Manifesto does a solid job of explaining the various aspects of Global Security that Dr. Der Derian would like to analyze. I do feel, however, that certain aspects are lacking. Firstly, I am still somewhat confused by the term "networks." While a potentially important category, I feel that that its nebulous nature hurts any attempt to accurately assess how threats affect this category. It seems as though networks are either too disparate or too subject to overlap with other categories to judge according to the matrix's terms. Similarly, I believe that writing (accurately) that WMDs are one of terrorism's greatest potential weapons and then separating the two categories is, like networks, either hurtful or duplicative in assessing the threats posed by terrorism and WMDs. If only traditional, state-sponsored WMDs are meant by WMDs, then this would help alleviate this situation but it seems difficult to accurately analyze the threat of terrorism without the threat of WMDs. Like Allison, I believe that the last area of overlap could be in Resource Conflict, which is mainly dangerous when it manifests itself in other areas. However, certain actors (such as humans) are affected by resource conflict regardless of warfare, so it seems necessary for it to remain as is. Finally, I would like to applaud several aspects of the Manifesto. The updated definition of warfare to include more actors makes it a much more relevant category. Additionally, the inclusion of the environment is an all too often overlooked part of worldwide threats. Overall, the Manifesto does a very solid job of explaining and assessing the various aspects that threaten today's world.

Posted by Allison Wright on September 30, 2006 09:32 PM | Permalink

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