The State is Doomed! 8-10

8. i. Only 100 Kalishnakovs are needed to destroy a small state.
ii. Global media and communication is universal.
iii. Ideas can sometimes be more powerful than military might.

9a. Recently, a concept called Asymmetric Warfare or Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW) has been in the process of development by forward thinking military officers like William S. Lind. 4GW is fought beyond maximum advantage in all things. States find non-state actors difficult to fight. Their aims are incomprehensible to a bureaucratically conditioned mindset. Their decentralization makes identification and goals difficult to identify or contain. External non-state enemies are even more difficult to penetrate. Technology is mostly useless; billion dollar weapons systems are irrelevant. Organization is not a virtue in asymmetric warfare. In 4GW propaganda victories are the primary objectives. Minimum expense for maximum gain is sought in all things. The opponent's will must be broken. The opponent's economy must be devastated. The opponent must be goaded into stupid atrocities. 4GW does not require state actors. 4GW is low tech. In 4GW, no negotiation is possible because there is nothing to negotiate. In 4GW, the state is the weaker party. 4GW makes the state irrelevant: it's back to the 14th Century. The state cannot fight maximum advantage with maximum advantage. The technological state is capable of no other means. In 4GW, the state is weaker. 4GW is the shadow in war. Asymmetry is a higher maximum advantage. The underdog will always elicit a certain sympathy. In 4GW, the distinction between combatant and civilians is blurred. Long live the memory of Falluja!

9b. Could 5GW be a time of war waged by individuals? If so, we are doomed

10. Excepting totalitarian regimes, legitimacy is a key component of any system of governance. An established arrangement may only deligitimize itself though the actions of disconnected leaders.