If you think this isn’t a war of information, think again.
Al Qaeda video messages of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri can now be downloaded to cell phones, the terror network announced as part of its attempts to extend its influence….
In a written message introducing the new cell phone videos, al-Zawahri, al Qaeda’s No. 2 figure, asked followers to spread the terror group’s messages.
Read my post In-sourcing the Tools of National Power for Success and Security at Small Wars Journal or below the fold. Comment here are there.
Continue reading “In-sourcing Stabilization and Reconstruction
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In 2008, these images were sent to me by a friend working at Reuters. They are copyrighted by Yang Liu, a Chinese raised in Germany whose biography is at the end of this post. The pictures appear in her book “Ost trifft West” (East meets West). These images depict simplified and generalized differences & commonality between groups in their approaches, perspectives, and moments in history. In the images, Blue –> Westerner and Red –> Asian.
Update: See JapanNewbie.com’s additional narrative on the pictures.
Update II: at the request of the artist, a number of images were removed from the original post. Please visit the artist’s webpage below to see more and to learn about shows of the artist’s work.
Update III: Yang Liu, the artist, drew my attention to an “interview” a Chinese newspaper conducted, allegedly with me. In fact, the “reporter” never contacted me and there was never an interview, with the paper Ms. Liu brought to my attention, nor any other on the subject of these images or their concepts.
All of the images are from Ms. Liu’s book “Ost trifft West” (East meets West) Hermann Schmidt Verlag Mainz -Differences between Germans and Chinese – A diary of Yang Liu @YangLiu Design, www.yangliudesign.com
BIOGRAPHY: Yang Liu was born in 1976. In age of 13, she moved with her parents to Germany. At the age of 17, she started her studies at the University of Arts in Berlin. After her master degree, she worked as a designer inSingapore, London, Berlin and New York City. In 2004 she has started her own design studio. While she is giving workshops and lectures on several international conferences, she was as well as teaching at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Glasgow school of Art. Her works had been awarded with several international design awards and are shown in Museums and became partof the collections.
For those of you who don’t know Sean, he’s Tom Barnett’s webmaster (probably also Enterra’s and definitely a McGraw-Hill’s webmaster for Aviation Week to name just one of his other sites). He’s a great webmaster who Tom and others comfortably rely on for their web presence (which is almost everything in today’s marketplace of ideas) and a genuinely nice guy. Join me in wishing him a happy birthday today. Not a bad way to start the new year.
I’ve heard from some that they had problems registering to comment on the site. I think I’ve fixed this, so if you tried in the past and failed, try it again. After the fix yesterday, a few quickly commenting here.
Have a safe and happy new year!
Shouldn’t we be taking care of our own to prevent opportunities like these? From milblog OpFor comes a public diplomacy operation by the French on U.S. soil:
French Warship to Deliver 10,000 Books to Disadvantaged U.S. Children
Continue reading “Funny how other countries see the U.S. as needy
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For year-end reading on private security companies, read this smart post by Kent’s Imperative:
It is no surprise that highly visible political targets under significant threat would seek the very best protection money could buy. Thus the news that Benazir Bhutto sought to obtain the services of a Blackwater protective security detail prior to her assassination is not entirely without precedent.
However, we are reminded of Mountainrunner’s admonition that private military companies play into US foreign policy overseas – and in particular, US public diplomacy – in a manner that few analysts or decision-makers take into account. Blackwater is among the most visibly associated with US engagements in the Long War – even though it plays a protective rather than offensive role. In the minds of many in the Gap, Blackwater is just another instrument of the United States itself….
It has long been a maxim that any political target can be taken by a sufficiently motivated suicidal attacker. While modern protective intelligence and operational TTPs have thankfully greatly reduced the margin of success for an attack, the PIRA’s warning to Lady Thatcher after the failed 1984 IED attack still haunts every practitioner: “Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always.”…
Let us be clear, though – such issues need not arise from any impropriety on the part of the private contractor capability, be they intelligence officers or PSD operators. This is an emergent property of the current political and media atmosphere that has not yet reconciled to the business of privatized intelligence or PMCs – largely because of the continued illusion that the state can (or should) somehow magically still provide the range of capabilities demanded in the Long War….
Strategic communications, public affairs, and public diplomacy professionals that will have to deal with the consequences of such an incident in the future had best start preparing contingency planning for this sort of political football. It is only a matter of time – and of adversary kinetic and IO action.
The political football is already out there. The clock is already ticking for the media and the enemy to capitalize on the vulnerability made by private security forces, a similar vulnerability that led to their marginalization almost two hundred years ago. Private resources can be effective extensions, as they were to some in the past, but as the passive additions and extensions of foreign policy as they are today, they will increasingly a liability, as they were to others in the past.
Read the whole thing over at Kent’s Imperative.
Dan of tdaxp continues his over-generalization in pursuit of scientific purity of independently verifiable variables. Called out on his overly broad statement about Bhutto’s death, Dan responds by claiming I reject the whole core-gap framework. This is another example of his painting by the widest brushstrokes possible, which despite his frequently smart analysis, is too often done when he analyzes conflict.
Continue reading “What is the core of this gap discussion?
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I finally watched the NBC coverage of the Hawaii Ironman today. Gotta say, as a finisher of four Ironmans (+ one DNF in my third IM, six weeks after my second, when my handlebars broke, putting me in the med tent), for the first time in many years I enjoyed the race coverage.
However, more exciting was the attention paid to the blind triathlete who was supported by C-Different and the Los Angeles Triathlon Club. The nameless guide for the blind triathlete Charlie, who stayed at our house a few years ago for a local race, is a good friend of mine and the founder of C-Different: Matt Miller. Matt started C-Different and has helped many blind triathletes race the gamut of triathlon distances: sprint, olympic, half, and iron.
As a former guide, sponsor, and coach for C-Different (and as a founding, but retired, board member of the Los Angeles Triathlon Club, which co-sponsored Matt and Charlie at Kona), I can recommend C-Different as an organization worthy of your support, in whatever form you can.
Have a submission for the Aljazeera International Television Festival – 2008? Not sure if a certain Disney pic would cut it.
A documentary version of P.W. Singer’s book Children at War will be on The History Channel on Dec. 29 at 7:00pm. Find it directly or, as Singer suggests, set your Tivo to search for “Child Warriors.” From Peter:
I have not actually seen this version (I consulted and interviewed for it, but have no final approval), so am just as interested as you to see how it turned out. I must say it has been fascinating to watch its evolution over the last year, from the perspective of an author as well as just media consumer. It started out a 2 hour version, with film crews going everywhere from Colombia to Nepal, gathering some amazing footage and interviews of child soldiers. But when they got back, the network decided that what they had gathered was too “depressing” (imagine that, a documentary about child soldiers didn’t turn out to be a pick me up) and so it was redone to a shorter version, following one former child soldier in particular, with a bit more of a “feel good ending.” In either case, it is great to see the stories get out there and hopefully, help bring some more needed attention to the issue.
Well played, Hugo Chavez. This has the real potential of being a public diplomacy coup. Are the three American private military contractors next? Or are they not being considered because the U.S. has largely forgotten them and thus the PR potential is low?
A young someone doesn’t recall (or forgets his reading of) the three decades of terrorism in Europe from the 1960’s to the 1980’s, or the impact of anarchists (the Islamic fundamentalists of the 1900’s +/-) on American politics. Instead, this friend of MountainRunner who has my respect, has clearly drunk too much of the 4GW Kool-Aid that all things are new and unique to our time.
Another MountainRunner friend casts the destabilizing event as it should be: a political attack. Last I checked, Israel and Mexico were outside the gap, as is Russia, as well as others that have suffered politically motivated and destabilizing attacks.
By viewing this event as SOP, we might be inclined to write something like "blah blah blah" instead of a real analysis of the consequences. In our modern global environment, economic and physical insecurity provide a breeding ground for hate and isolationism that can easily travel outside the region on instant communication and transportation networks. We care what happened and must not dismiss the act as something it is not.
What will be the impact from her death? Nothing good, regardless how ruthless she was. Remember she had substantial public support and was one of two returning opposition leaders that were helping force change in Pakistan.
That said, I haven’t had the cycles to follow Pakistan closely enough to prognosticate what comes next, so I’ll punt this question to me over to Tom.
Update: another MR friend, Abu Muqawama has more immediate questions on his mind and a link to an interesting discussion.
Update II: Tom has his post up. There are other smart posts out there, see SWJ for a listing.
Me? One more than my wife, which might be cause for concern…
Yup, I agree with what he said, although that we need to learn the difference between speaking/listening and discourse and understand there are different ways of achieving our ends that actually produce deeper, longer lasting, and better solutions.
On the meat of Triplett’s article, I’ve seen Keith Reinhard’s presentation (which included a video of the Kiwi quoted in the article) and listened to him talk. I agree with Business for Diplomatic Action’s mission, but to focus on better Hollywood produced commercials for a national security imperative like public diplomacy is nationalizing "America, F*** Yeah!", only mellower.
But, let’s start with what Steve said and hope Jim changes the trajectory established by Karen Hughes and backburner’s Reinhard’s suggestion.
Two tips from today’s short trail run. When trail running and your blocked up sinuses cause your molars to ache with each hard foot fall, such as when you’re running down a steep downhill, try to run ‘softer’ by cushion each step. This is not the same as running slower, it is more about using your legs as shock absorbers. This not only reduces the impact in your head, but it’s good for the joints as well.
The second tip is while you’re running across, and down, technical terrain that requires your attention, don’t concentrate on the first tip too much lest you miss that sudden drop off, putting you in complete violation of tip #1…. I think I saw my dog smirking at my inability to multitask.
A friend’s NGO recently attained 501c3 status, meaning they are officially recognized as a non-profit (versus my non-profit status as a result of my now-former status as a student). Congratulations DO!
Check out this outsourcing of public diplomacy in Afghanistan: Developing Opportunity – Creating Opportunity in Afghanistan
There’s a decent article by Steve Fainaru in the Washington Post on the troubles of private security in Iraq:
The U.S. government disregarded numerous warnings over the past two years about the risks of using Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms in Iraq, expanding their presence even after a series of shooting incidents showed that the firms were operating with little regulation or oversight, according to government officials, private security firms and documents.
There nothing new in the article I haven’t written about before, but Fainaru’s article has a change in tone and perspective on the issue of privatization we’re likely to see more of. It seems we may be finally getting to the point where people realize private security companies themselves aren’t bad (note the quotes from Chris Beese of AEGIS), but their unchecked and irresponsible use that did more than permit but encouraged operations that violated basic requirements for successful counterinsurgency, perception management, and reconstruction and stabilization operations.
Fundamentally, private security companies are tools of American foreign policy, security policy, and public diplomacy, all deeply intertwined and interdependent practices, and thus must be under more than haphazard oversight by middle managers and few others. The mainstream media must start to investigate and discuss the blind eye of the principal (the U.S.) and spend less time on the "reckless" agent, the companies, who are paid and contracted and explicitly (or at worse implicitly) managed by USG or its own agents. With Fairnaru’s article, we should see the previously academic discussion over problems posed by bypassing Constitutional and Congressional oversight, in terms of both checks and balances and management, move into the mainstream in the new year.
See also:
MountainRunner friend Steve Corman has a post about a commercial application of the "voice of Allah" we learned about at a workshop earlier this year
At a government workshop some time ago I head someone describe a new tool that was described as the “voice of Allah.” This was said to be a device that would operate at a distance and would deliver a message that only a single person could hear. The story was that it was tested in a conflict situation in Iraq and pointed at one insurgent in a group, who whipped around looking in all directions, and began a heated conversation with his compatriots, who did not hear the message. At the time I greeted this story with some skepticism.
Lo and behold, today I saw this item on CNET News:
The folks who heard the ad for A & E’s TV show “Paranormal State” emitted from a billboard in New York City’s Greenwich Village must have thought it was pretty weird. As they walked into the targeted area they were exposed to highly focused sound, picked up not by their ears, but by their skulls. The otherwise inaudible sound waves are experienced via bone conduction–the sound resonates inside the passerby’s head.
The system is being developed for commercial use by Holosonic Research Labs which besides the billboard stunt has installed systems at the Seattle Space Needle, at museums, and at Disney EPCOT center.
Here is a clip of an ABC news story about use of the technology in a CourtTV promotional campaign that has reactions from, um, victims that are amazingly like the one recounted about the insurgent.
Now, what if captured said insurgent, or similar, and measured his brainwaves to certain messages? Sound far-fetched? Not necessarily. Message Science is doing that now, at least domestically. I’m curious if they have the socio-cultural database to properly shape messages for effective counterinsurgency operations.
We use our own groundbreaking, cutting-edge, proprietary scientific technology, PerceptionMapper® brain mapping. It is the only methodology of its type in the industry. We can literally see your message hit the target in the brain. We also use proven, conventional, cutting-edge psychological methods.
Perhaps these are both part of a PSYOP campaign to get insurgents and your everyday extreme religious nut to wear a tin foil hat to make them easier to identify. Question: will a the new headcovering change the impact of millimeter pain rays?
The next time you see something flapping in the breeze on an overhead power line, squint a little harder. It may not be a plastic bag or the remnants of a party balloon, but a tiny spy plane stealing power from the line to recharge its batteries.
(H/T Kurzweil.net)
