Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Urban Terrorism: "Improvements in Lethality"

Writing in City Journal, John Robb explores the future of urban terrorism. He also provides some provocative answers. An excerpt:

Unfortunately, the improvements in lethality that we have already seen are just the beginning. The arc of productivity growth that lets small groups terrorize at ever-higher levels of death and disruption stretches as far as the eye can see. Eventually, one man may even be able to wield the destructive power that only nation-states possess today. It is a perverse twist of history that this new threat arrives at the same moment that wars between states are receding into the past. Thanks to global interdependence, state-against-state warfare is far less likely than it used to be, and viable only against disconnected or powerless states. But the underlying processes of globalization have made us exceedingly vulnerable to nonstate enemies. The mechanisms of power and control that states once exerted will continue to weaken as global interconnectivity increases. Small groups of terrorists can already attack deep within any state, riding on the highways of interconnectivity, unconcerned about our porous borders and our nation-state militaries. These terrorists’ likeliest point of origin, and their likeliest destination, is the city.

1 comment:

Eclecticity said...

"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

It is so hard for me to comprehend the idea of a person(s) wanting to kill innocent people because they are not like them, in belief, customs, religion, politics, etc.

What we and our children are up against is an incredible challenge.

Every once in awhile Instapundit will link to a new upgraded "survival kit" or some such.

I'm sorely tempted, and perhaps would be remiss, if I didn't do something to that effect these days.

Has it really come to this?

Depressingly yours, DF