ISS3.RealSecurity

Security post 9-11: What is it? How can we assure it for ourselves and the world?

The events of 9-11 brought home to Americans the startling degree of security they had been experiencing - by making clear that such security might never be theirs again. In the wake of 9-11, many Americans have been willing to sacrifice privacy and other rights, expend tens of billions of dollars, and make war on countries across the globe - in order to ensure a level of security at home that may not be objectively possible. But despite the incalculable damage done by the terrorists, questions of security should be seen through an even larger lens. If we are willing to erode civil liberties, the national budget, and relationships with other nations over the question of security, then we should be willing to examine what truly comprises our future security, and how those things are endangered. This section addresses many of the aspects that, in an uncertain world, comprise "security". Are we secure if we have no water? If our children are uneducated? If the health of ecosystems like rivers, oceans, fisheries and forests are threatened? If wars in distant countries cause massive migration, disease, and political instability? Is it possible to maintain "security" in political or economic systems perverted by black markets or corporate malfeasance? How can we maintain infrastructures of trade, travel and tourism, if many parts of the world are sources of untreated, poverty-supported disease? On an increasingly connected planet, can we make individual parts of it "secure" while the rest becomes increasingly unstable? And if highly motivated terrorists use low-tech methods like box-cutters and hijackings, what good are missile-shields and massive security forces, unless in their use they destroy the quality of life we wish to protect? We live in a complex system that has never been seen before in its dimensions, interactions, and sheer scale. A system where interactions of politics, economies, ecologies, human nature, and survival exist in an explosive and unpredictable amalgamation. Could it be that real security lies, first, in understanding these interactions and ourselves, and secondly, through that understanding, correctly assessing and predicting risks...understanding as the basis of a genuine and sustainable security? These pages do not pretend to lay out all the connections between system interactions that will determine both our future course and our security or lack of it. What they do is to touch on some of the many real facets of security that should be considered in the larger picture of where we place resources, how we address differences, and what priorities we set for the future. These and more will shape the world we will live in, secure or not. © 2002 v1.0 Valerie Gremillion We invite your comments, essays, links, quotes and other source material, with the aim of painting a more accurate and detailed picture of what constitutes threat and security in the 21st centur - send to submissions@global-dialog.org . We're almost ready to open forums on these topics, with the aim of constructive synthesis of our understanding, but we need supportive volunteers to do so - please contact us at moderate@global-dialog.org if you're willing to help moderate, websurf, or integrate this topic. | Energy, Oil, and Resources How Energy Efficiency and Renewables Improve Our National Security "To help, we are turning our concerns into action by helping Americans reduce their dependence on imported oil and create a permanent, long-range path toward energy security and independence. This path is rooted in energy efficiency and renewable energy resources and it will benefit not just America, but all nations." National Energy Security Act of 2001 Factsheet by the Sierra Club Bush Energy Plan Thinking long term: U.S. oil security and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Terrorism and Military Security Terrorism and Security Collection 26 recent publications from the National Academies about the science and policy issues surrounding terrorism and security. Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies The cold war is long over, but Star Wars goes on - by Martin Woollacott. America's obsession with missile defence will do it great harm. Sources of Future Conflict "These will likely include traditional contingencies and humanitarian operations as well as the protection of the U.S. homeland against a variety of threats such as terrorism, missile attack, and information operations. Maintaining freedoms Liberty and Individual Responsibility - by Dwight R. Lee. On government structures, checks and balances. Mediacorps Mediacorps represent a unique - and uniquely dangerous - convergence of powers. Media Giants - from the PBS Frontline series Corporate influence in the media - media conglomerates, mergers, concentration of ownership Big Media and the Big Story Are conglomerates up to the job? Or are they doing too much of the government's bidding? Is the FCC quelling free speech?, Claiming Americans get their fix of diverse viewpoints on the Internet, media conglomerates are using the Web as an excuse to consolidate their power in the offline worlds of television, radio and print media. News vs. Propaganda: The Gatekeeper's Dilemma GLOBAL SECURITY: in equality, support? Information, Education, Language, Science The Federal Role in Building Language Capacity in the US by Richard D. Brecht and William P. Rivers, The National Foreign Language Center "The security, stability, and economic vitality of the United States in a complex global era depend on American experts in and citizens knowledgeable about world regions, foreign languages, and international affairs, as well as on a strong research base in those areas. CATASTROPHIC INTELLIGENCE FAILURE A report from Accuracy in Media . Warnings Issued on Funding Shortfalls in Civilian and Defense S&T Funding "the inability of the United States today to produce enough high school graduates who can do math and science is a long-term national security issue."…"the commission unanimously agreed that the challenge to us in scientific research and in math and science education is a greater national security problem than any likely conventional war in the foreseeable future." Environment, Ecology, and Economics IMF's four steps to damnation: an interview with the IMF's former Chief Economist Abrupt climate change likely - report of the American Geophysical Society Meeting, San Francisco, December 2001 "…human influences increase the risk of sudden climatic surprises: "Although chaotic processes can flip the switch, forcing the climate increases the probability of abrupt climate change.""

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