MUSINGS
DNI has brought up Martin van Creveld’s Fate of The State several times lately. Reading that [ed. note: Actually I read it several times. It’s worth pondering carefully] combined with recent discussions of the “ Moral” dimension of warfare by John Robb, Philip Bobbitt and discussions here on resiliency and moral countermeasures have me thinking about the legitimacy of the American state. Why it has weakened. How to strengthen it, and so on. Inchoate thoughts at present, perhaps tomorrow will bring me some insight.
Also, I’m in an interesting discussion with Aaron over at tdaxp.
Anonymous:
November 29th, 2005 at 4:37 am
Here’s one: delete the legal fiction of corporate citizenship. We fought a war to be free of what were seen at the time as beasts, and only allowed them in with restrictions because we needed the means to generate enough wealth to defend the nation. It’s becoming “cool” to talk about the end of sovereign nation-states. Look who’s doing the talking.
mark:
December 1st, 2005 at 3:02 am
Anon,
Personally, I don’t think it is “cool” that nation-states as a system of governance are in crisis. Some of these problems are fixable, in some cases they are more unanticipated effects of globalization and in other cases the problems are serious, long-term, disasters.
I’m not sure if the nation-state can be salvaged in the short-term when so many world leaders see political utility for themselves and their governments in promoting diffuse transnationalism over sovereign accountability
( Bush’s “sovereignist” unilateralism is not exactly popular in part for this reason
” Perdicaris alive or Rasuli dead” as a doctrine means cleaning up their own houses, an unpleasant and dangerous task)