Who are the insurgents? : Sunni Arab rebels in Iraq
• Building a profile of a typical anti-coalition Sunni Arab insurgent in Iraq is a daunting task. Demographic information about the insurgents is fragmented, and the rebels themselves are marked more by their heterogeneity than by their homogeneity. Drawing from a wide array of sources, however, we can try to piece together a view of their primary motivations for taking up arms against the U.S.-led occupation.
PMESII and the Non-State Actor: Questioning the Relevance
Abstract : A systems perspective is beginning to permeate doctrine. This perspective calls for an analysis of the key systems of an adversary. PMESII is an acronym that stands for political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, and information systems. Analyzing the adversary's PMESII systems can lead to the identification of key nodes, links, and vulnerabilities, which can then be targeted kinetically or non-kinetically to achieve desired effects. When the adversary is a state, all of these systems will be present, with many of them possessing tangible infrastructure that is easily identified by intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and then targeted with precision weaponry. However, when the adversary is non-state actor, these same systems will be noticeably missing. Non-state actors are organized in a fundamentally different way than states, and they manifest themselves in completely different ways. The utility of the PMESII construct is significantly diminished when the adversary is a non-state actor. To apply the systems perspective to non-state actors, such as Al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, a different construct is required. The author maintains that identifying the critical requirements of non-state actors leads to a more relevant construct. Using the non-state actor Zarqawi, the author identifies four systems that Zarqawi requires to remain viable. These systems are funding, recruitment, information, and support (FRIS). The FRIS construct provides the same level of utility for the non-state actor as PMESII does for states. The author recommends incorporating the FRIS construct as a corollary to the PMESII construct in doctrinal manuals and publications that discuss the systems perspective.
Corporations and the Market for Law
The state competition for corporate law has long been studied as a distinct phenomenon. Under the traditional view, corporations are subject to a unique choice-of-law rule, the internal affairs doctrine (IAD). This rule is explained as a historical accident, or by the special logistics of the corporate contract. The resulting market for corporate law appears to have special characteristics, particularly including the dominance by the single state of Delaware. This paper challenges the traditional view. It shows that the corporate law market is best understood as a special application of the general market for law. Any differences are matters of degree rather than kind, and are explained by considerations underlying enforcement of all choice-of-law contracts rather than by factors unique to corporations. It follows that theories of corporate competition that ignore the broader law market context are incomplete, and that the competition for corporate law carries lessons for the law market generally. Moreover, the connection between the corporate and other law markets has implications for the nature of corporate law, the constitutional status of the IAD, the scope of the IAD, and for the relationship between state and federal law.