Main Idea for next article: Future of War
National wars are coming to an end.
Current war is against a group not a nation. Compare to gang warfare in states.
Groups may include moralist radicals who fight violently for a particular cause. Pop culture example is Whale Wars.
The power of globalization is a deterrent for nation based war.
Nukes are the back up deterrent.
USA Leviathan is proven top dog. Cold War is over.
Look how quickly Iraq military was defeated in open conflict.
Versus Vietnam or Afghanistan.
Korean War another example of limits of Leviathan.
USA need for a partner in crime for policing the world.
China
India and Brazil are similar but smaller.
Traditional allies are weak. See NATO and EU.
Middle East, Central/South America, Africa, and parts of Asia need to join the core. Long term lucrative goals for the smart and willing.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Those Rascally Pirates
This rant was sparked by my friends blog.
Pirates have been around forever, and are technically modern day water terrorist. They just lack such a label because Pirate is sexier for the news.
The reason they are so annoying is they don’t go away, and they use international/national waters to protect themselves. Do bad things in international waters, and hide out in national waters. The local nations are pretty poor and cannot get ride of them. Plus there is always the possibilities of kick backs from pirate booty.
Another advantage Pirates have is local knowledge of water ways. Pirates have been active in these regions for some time because they know where to hide. Even if the a US ship can see everything from a satellite other factors like sea conditions may deter an attempt to search every nook and cranny. It’s also next to impossible to police the open sea.
Why doesn’t the US military do their thing? The military is not an all encompassing kick ass machine. It has limits, and those limits are being met. Fighting in the Middle East is coming up on a decade. This is a volunteer military force. Those two factors alone account for any lack of military effort.
Fighting costs money. How much more money will the tax payer fork over to get rid of some pirates?
Africa is also traditionally ignored by the US who tends to deal more with Europe, Asia, and South America for armed conflicts.
How to curb the pirate threat?
Train and arm any crew sailing in those water. Pressure other countries not involved in the Middle East Conflict to patrol the pirate waters. (Let someone else police the world for once.) Develop the local African nations so they have no desire to work with outlaws.
The last idea is very close to preventing young people from joining gangs. Don’t give them a reason to become outlaws and they won’t. Most people just want to eat, live, and be happy. Not be poor and die of disease or starvation.
Pirates have been around forever, and are technically modern day water terrorist. They just lack such a label because Pirate is sexier for the news.
The reason they are so annoying is they don’t go away, and they use international/national waters to protect themselves. Do bad things in international waters, and hide out in national waters. The local nations are pretty poor and cannot get ride of them. Plus there is always the possibilities of kick backs from pirate booty.
Another advantage Pirates have is local knowledge of water ways. Pirates have been active in these regions for some time because they know where to hide. Even if the a US ship can see everything from a satellite other factors like sea conditions may deter an attempt to search every nook and cranny. It’s also next to impossible to police the open sea.
Why doesn’t the US military do their thing? The military is not an all encompassing kick ass machine. It has limits, and those limits are being met. Fighting in the Middle East is coming up on a decade. This is a volunteer military force. Those two factors alone account for any lack of military effort.
Fighting costs money. How much more money will the tax payer fork over to get rid of some pirates?
Africa is also traditionally ignored by the US who tends to deal more with Europe, Asia, and South America for armed conflicts.
How to curb the pirate threat?
Train and arm any crew sailing in those water. Pressure other countries not involved in the Middle East Conflict to patrol the pirate waters. (Let someone else police the world for once.) Develop the local African nations so they have no desire to work with outlaws.
The last idea is very close to preventing young people from joining gangs. Don’t give them a reason to become outlaws and they won’t. Most people just want to eat, live, and be happy. Not be poor and die of disease or starvation.
Back to Thinking
When I first created this blog it was only to be used for my old history papers. Things have changed, or rather will change. I am going to be posting random thoughts about news worthy or interesting topics.
Thomas P.M. Barnett is a name everyone should learn. The man has a knack for explaining the world, and I just so happen to agree with many of his opinions. In the near future I am going to do a review of his book Great Powers: America and the World After Bush. For now I am just going to highlight some of the most recent posts from his blog.
Keeping the A Types Coming to America:Lexington column in The Economist.
"IMMIGRANTS benefit America because they study and work hard. That is the standard argument in favor of immigration, and it is correct. Leaving your homeland is a big deal. By definition, it takes get-up-and-go to get up and go, which is why immigrants are abnormally entrepreneurial. But there is another, less obvious benefit of immigration. Because they maintain links with the places they came from, immigrants help America plug into a vast web of global networks."
This is a great piece to show anyone in support of the new Arizona laws. Connections to other countries. Exposure to new cultures--art, music, women (sorry I'm single and young), food, and more. Plus an improvement to the US/Global economy. Sounds like a bucket of win to me.
Arizona's new law is a step in the wrong direction. Don't like immigrants taking jobs? What have you done to make yourself a more valuable worker? If the answer is nothing, then it's you not the immigrant.
Millennials: plenty spiritual, just not religious USA Today
This article hits the nail on the head. It explains why I, a young American, have no interests in Christianity.
As a young history major, with parents who have seen the ugly side of Christianity--nasty nuns and Catholic School--I'm hard pressed to even give America's traditional religion a shot. Be it Catholic or a Protestant sect of Christianity.
Crusades, witch trials, sex scandals, and other bad press makes it difficult to believe there is good in Christianity. Of course there are great individuals out there that prove that sentence wrong, but that doesn't change my skepticism.
For the other two chapters in the one Gods plan I see similar issues. Israel seems to be in a holy war with Islam. How can I accept a faith as good when there is so much death and destruction? It's hard to believe things will change with the thousands of years of religious based chaos.
If I had to pick a religion, then I'd probably branch out to something totally different like Buddhism or Hinduism. I would, however, have to do some research before making a final choice. Is there any religion out there that doesn't have blood or sex juice on their hands?
Thomas P.M. Barnett is a name everyone should learn. The man has a knack for explaining the world, and I just so happen to agree with many of his opinions. In the near future I am going to do a review of his book Great Powers: America and the World After Bush. For now I am just going to highlight some of the most recent posts from his blog.
Keeping the A Types Coming to America:Lexington column in The Economist.
"IMMIGRANTS benefit America because they study and work hard. That is the standard argument in favor of immigration, and it is correct. Leaving your homeland is a big deal. By definition, it takes get-up-and-go to get up and go, which is why immigrants are abnormally entrepreneurial. But there is another, less obvious benefit of immigration. Because they maintain links with the places they came from, immigrants help America plug into a vast web of global networks."
This is a great piece to show anyone in support of the new Arizona laws. Connections to other countries. Exposure to new cultures--art, music, women (sorry I'm single and young), food, and more. Plus an improvement to the US/Global economy. Sounds like a bucket of win to me.
Arizona's new law is a step in the wrong direction. Don't like immigrants taking jobs? What have you done to make yourself a more valuable worker? If the answer is nothing, then it's you not the immigrant.
Millennials: plenty spiritual, just not religious USA Today
This article hits the nail on the head. It explains why I, a young American, have no interests in Christianity.
As a young history major, with parents who have seen the ugly side of Christianity--nasty nuns and Catholic School--I'm hard pressed to even give America's traditional religion a shot. Be it Catholic or a Protestant sect of Christianity.
Crusades, witch trials, sex scandals, and other bad press makes it difficult to believe there is good in Christianity. Of course there are great individuals out there that prove that sentence wrong, but that doesn't change my skepticism.
For the other two chapters in the one Gods plan I see similar issues. Israel seems to be in a holy war with Islam. How can I accept a faith as good when there is so much death and destruction? It's hard to believe things will change with the thousands of years of religious based chaos.
If I had to pick a religion, then I'd probably branch out to something totally different like Buddhism or Hinduism. I would, however, have to do some research before making a final choice. Is there any religion out there that doesn't have blood or sex juice on their hands?
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