A few weeks ago someone told me that the Cold War was won because we were able to master silicon first. Well, I don’t know, but this could be true, in part, I suppose. The next thing that popped into my head was:
If the Cold War was won with silicon, we are currently losing the war on terrorism due to Web 2.0. Ouch! Web 2.0 enables these folks to communicate, share tradecraft, recruit and synchronize at a velocity and resiliency that is unprecedented.
This is certainly one of the key mechanisms enabling the viral-like growth of Al Qaeda-aligned missionaries. What evidence, you might ask? Check out this story ("Web of Terror") written by Rita Katz and Josh Devon.
RELATED POSTS:
Interesting article. It doesn't sound like Katz and Devon have a serious problem with "Web 2.0" as a set of technologies, they are more talking about ways that radicals are using the web to spread information. Some of the strengths of Web 2.0 are also its weaknesses: the SITE institute gathers a great deal of intelligence by monitoring those jihadist web sites.
About this phrase:
"...we are currently losing the war on terrorism..."
Is this really true? Is there a single war on terrorism? And are we losing?
There are lots of small battles, and a few big battles, but the more we think of them as all part of the same war, the farther we are from being able to deal with the problem. If you consider the problem as a single grand war, your only real option is to destroy all of the opposing armies. If you consider the problem as lots of small wars instead, you open up lots of new strategic options: you can destroy some of your enemies, coopt some of the opposing forces into fighting on your side, and find ways to move other enemies out of the battle entirely. There is not one single motivation or grievance that leads to terrorism. Different groups are trying to achieve different ends. Because of the diversity in motivation for terrorism, we have lots of room for diversity in our response. You might be interested in some of the stuff David Kilcullen has written on this topic.
(By the way, we met at the TLE in Anaheim last month. I was the guy who wanted to know more about the cryptography behind anonymized information sharing.)
Cheers,
Brian
Posted by: Brian | May 15, 2007 at 06:52 AM
Jeff,
I personally believe that we spend too much time focusing on the adversary. There is the quote that says: We have met the enemy and he is us. Today, the product development cycle (idea, innovation implementation, immitation) has been reduced from 30 years to 30 weeks. This means that the adversary is able to adapt and morph into new technology every 30 weeks. The world's governments are producing outstanding tools to prosecute this war; however, the government product development cycle is measured in years versus weeks/days. In other words, they are producing tools for the fight last year verses today. The only way to win--or at least make an effect--is to create partnerships between governments and the private sector. The private sector understands rapid product development. After all, their livelihood depends upon it.
Posted by: Darryl Williams | May 22, 2007 at 10:29 AM
Thanks for the very interesting read and comments.
Regards,
Chris
Posted by: Dental Spa | January 15, 2008 at 06:41 PM