From this point, no return
the Necessity of Sustaining Globalization
Part II
Globalization Post-September 11
The undiscovr'd country - from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of
Hamlet Act III, Scene 1
s
everyone says, September 11 changed everything.
It's true. September 11 redefined terrorism as a scourge that can affect
everyone, including the most wealth, most powerful, most globalized
nation on Earth. No longer is the United States safe, either in reality or in
imagination, from those enemies that would destroy it. Certainly it has never
been entirely safe from its enemies, but the new and important difference is
that those enemies with the power to inflict pain on the country are now not
just states, but individuals.
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Peter Schrank
The Independent
London |
As awful as September 11 was, it was really an attack of
much more limited significance than can now be imagined. A campaign of truly
global terror, waged with less concern for getting caught or having one's plans
interrupted, has the capacity for bringing the world economic system into severe
disrepair.
Imagine if harbors or ships (or maybe just one or two) were
bombed or infected with biological weapons. Global trade would be brought to a
halt as the world would stop and react to the new threats.
But such a scheme requires more coordination. Let's think of
scenarios that would require no more planning than the events of September 11. A
nuclear attack? As Warren Buffett recently declared, such an attack upon the
United States is a 'virtual certainty.'
Now we come to the necessity of keeping globalization in
motion. For if globalization is slowed down, such events are more likely
to occur not less. This part of the site shall explore this concern in greater
detail.
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