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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

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To: Jill who wrote (5844)	10/17/2001 3:43:05 PM
From: Michael Watkins	Read Replies (1) of 281500

Another huge weakness is our scale. That's what Mike's trying to get at, I think. We're enormous. We're just porous in too many places. Think of the massive length of our borders both north and south, and the coastlines. The huge amount of import and export. Its a weakness we'll never be able to solve. Yes, that's the bottom line. I've always marvelled at how everything worked so well -- in a time of peace. Walking through airports watching people scurry to and fro - that I can order something on the internet and receive it the next day at my door - that buying a container load of sunglasses from the orient is just a letter of credit and a ship away (a past life) - so much happens in our modern world with seemingly little effort. In a time of peace. The price of globalization is dependency. Our largest organizations have big investments and dependencies on other countries, and as things weaken, we may see how fast things can unravel. Business tends to plan for growth largely based on optimistic predictions of increasing trade supported by a free and largely peaceful world. Now we have airlines - who less than 24 months ago were doing booming business - going bankrupt. Who would have expected that United (UAL) would now be discussing its very survival? Logistics is equally as vital for business as it is for the military. Plenty of military ambitions have ended in total defeat because logistics (supplies) were cut off by an enemy. It just seems to me that the economy is the real target. Terror is the mechanism / weapon. Given all our thoughts about how you rebuild some of these nations -- by supporting democracy and allowing free economies to grow -- if they destabilize US / "western" ability to grow or maintain their own economies, it weakens our position considerably. I know there are some half baked thoughts in all of this but my gut is saying something to me.

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