Friday, November 04, 2005
RESILIENCY GAINS SOME TRACTION - SPURS FURTHER CONTEMPLATION
The State Resiliency post was linked to yesterday by both Dr. Barnett and John Robb - a very good blogospheric sign for the validity of the concept - and they each made some complimentary remarks which I appreciate and encouraged me to develop this idea further. Myke Cole's suggestions and criticism via email have also been very helpful as were the remarks of Dan, Curtis and Nadezhda (the last of which still requires a reply from me).
Related links: Take a look at John Robb's post on Evo Morales ( I don't claim to be an expert on Bolivia but the historical governmental instability of that state is matched only by its unchanging social stratification). A new commenter, Valdis hails from a commercial site - Orgnet.com / InFlow - that nevertheless has a large file of network theory related papers. Finally, Dr. Chet Richards recent " Beyond Patterns of Conflict" at DNI particularly his reference to John Boyd's slide " Theme for Vitality and Growth "(PDF). For the latter note:
The State Resiliency post was linked to yesterday by both Dr. Barnett and John Robb - a very good blogospheric sign for the validity of the concept - and they each made some complimentary remarks which I appreciate and encouraged me to develop this idea further. Myke Cole's suggestions and criticism via email have also been very helpful as were the remarks of Dan, Curtis and Nadezhda (the last of which still requires a reply from me).
Related links: Take a look at John Robb's post on Evo Morales ( I don't claim to be an expert on Bolivia but the historical governmental instability of that state is matched only by its unchanging social stratification). A new commenter, Valdis hails from a commercial site - Orgnet.com / InFlow - that nevertheless has a large file of network theory related papers. Finally, Dr. Chet Richards recent " Beyond Patterns of Conflict" at DNI particularly his reference to John Boyd's slide " Theme for Vitality and Growth "(PDF). For the latter note:
- Boyd's concept of grand strategy as "constructive" rather than "destructive" like the OODA loop. Recall in Boyd's Destruction and Creation that destruction-creation is a dialectical engine of change. I see Barnett's PNM Theory fulfilling the " constructive" role in the process at the grand strategy level ( but Sys Admin also at tactical) even as 4GW/5GW and Global Guerillaism represent the "destructive" aspect of the dynamic at the tactical -operational and possibly theater/regional strategic level. Very yin-yang, very Schumpeter.
- Moral strength is composed of what exactly ? Collective vs. individual. Moral (ethical value system) vs. Morale (confidence and cognitive integration of values). Conceptual/Memetic Attraction - winning over neutrals, countering the moral strength of adversaries. State Resiliency would indicate the existence of moral harmony between leaders and the society.
- Clashes between two equally Resilient forces in the moral sphere would be likely to be the most destructive kind of warfare, even if the combatants were otherwise asymmetrical oponents. Examples of this would be " epochal wars" like the religiously energized Thirty Years War, the Jews facing Titus at Masada or the modern secular ideological crusade against Nazism or many civil wars, notably the American or China's Taiping rebellion.
Comments, criticism, thoughts are welcome. I'm still thinking through these concepts myself ( and incidentally doing an excellent job of procrastinating on my actual work!).
¶ 6:40 AM
