Terrorism's Implications for Preemption and Legislation: A Futurist Perspective
Abstract : The author explored how terrorism may manifest itself as a threat to America in the coming years and identified corollary implications for two concerns likely to be center stage: preemption and legislation. Beginning with an environmental scan the author determined there were overarching themes that could be impactors such as increased lethality employment of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) leveraging technology and the possibility of cooperation between terrorist organizations and other actors with common interests and enemy. Based on these themes the author then identified two impactors the likelihood of WMD employment and technology to construct a futurist scenario forecast model. As a result of the model the author proceeded to construct a possible scenario and story reflecting results. Finally as a result of the scenario outcome and story the author explored strategic policy implications and considerations regarding preemption and legislation.
Global Security Concerns - Anticipating the Twenty-First Century
Abstract : One of the most important and intellectually fascinating areas of investigation for the student of political affairs concerns the attempt to understand why man makes war. This ancient field of inquiry may be addressed at such various levels as the philosophical and psychological or the institutional and structural contexts of human behavior. For example, did the recent wars in Somalia, Rwanda, and Haiti result from clashing ideologies, tribalism, poverty and class warfare, the cold war, or distant ramifications of colonial history, or, as has been postulated, the trees of these countries having been cut down? These plausible sources of conflict offer insight into various dimensions of explanations for wars; however, the analysts in this volume focus on just one aspect of the inquiry. They were charged with the task of anticipating which specific contentious issues likely will propel large, organized political units to choose violent means of acquiring their sociopolitical objectives rather than attaining them peacefully. The units on which we focus have been traditionally identified as states, but we recognize that a host of new sub- and suprastate actors also will play major roles in such wars; hence, we also will allude to them.
Cyberspace-A New Medium for Communication, Command, and Control by Extremists
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are extending the arena within which extremists and terrorists operate. Among the most active participants are Islamists and the Far Right, whose increasingly networked formats are enhanced by such technologies. These provide them with new benefits: interconnectivity; anonymity; cheapness; power enhancement; new audiences. Islamists and Jihadists are turning to the Internet to recruit, and to issue religious injunctions to the world-wide Muslim community. The stealthy growth of the U.S. militias was aided by the Internet, and white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere increasingly see it as the last communication medium free of interference, and which they can use to best effect. Although all use it to communicate, they are poised to use it for command and control.