In response to a comment by Curtis, I issue a call to arms on defining Global Guerrilla Theory As I see it, there are three possibilities for global guerrilla theory Internally valid, externally valid Internally valid, externally invalid Externally inv…

Farah touches on the lack of social mobility in Nigeria- due in no small measure to Robb’s Global Guerrillas as evidenced here - and how transnational Nigerian gangs are expanding black globalization into Afghanistan.

It also signals a new danger fo…

One point you have made me realize I should expand upon here is that I believe that private-sector advances in resiliency will be adopted by the state in order to improve its own resiliency. Much as the DoD looks to private industry to find better ways of managing programs, I expect that in the coming decades the federal government at large will look more and more to resilient companies for ideas on how to improve its strength.

As far as motivating people to create resilient and gap-shrinking organizations, that is where Barnett’s vision comes in. It provides a moral direction (in John Boyd’s meaning of the term - aka a common perspective that unifies a group) that organizes the dispersed efforts of all those individual agents in our society (and the global society). And Barnett has lots of company on this front; he has pointed out the synergy between his vision and what many religious groups (such as evangelical Christians) have been saying for years. Secular groups advocating social justice have been on the case too.

This is absolutely right. The time we live in offers great opportunities for bypassing the state to accomplish goals. We opperate at a disadvantage when we think vertically, focusing solely on government policy. But if we think horizontally and creatively consider how an entrepreneurial approach can bring to bear the knowledge and talents that are distributed throughout our society then we are acting out of one of our strengths and the reason our society is so resilient. In order to change the bureaucracy you have to have influence and power. Think about how much time, effort, capital and organizational ability are squandered in the competition for power and influence. It would be much better to invest our resources in non-profit or for-profit enterprises specifically geared to the goals of exporting resliliency or shrinking the gap as well as strengthening our own society. But this kind of decentralized, entrepreneurial approach can only work if people are willing to create these kinds of organizations, it’s not just going to happen on its own.