Global Guerrillas

BOOK REVIEW: The Starfish and the Spider

I had the pleasure to briefly meet (to compare notes) and then listen to a presentation by Ori Brafman, the author of the Starfish and the Spider a month ago. The presentation and the book are both very slick introductions to the concepts that power decentralized organizations. I might add more to this post to make it truly a review, but it may suffice to describe the book as a Decentralized Organizations 101 course. It's an excellent introduction to how decentralized organizations function for those that are having difficulty (either conceptually or due to a lack of experience) understanding basic dynamics and functions.

In contrast, this site is graduate level coursework for the serious thinkers on the topic.

SUMMER READING

While the rest of the world wastes precious mindshare on the latest 'kiss and tell', self-help, and 'Asian Century' books, those of us in contact with the real world can enjoy some excellent summer reading with two new entrants in the Global Guerrillas genre. Both will provide great ideation.

REINVENTING COLLAPSE by Dmitry Orlov

NOTE: Dmitry graciously sent me a PDF of his book's early manuscript so I was able to provide some feedback. Thanks!

Reinventing Collapse makes three points:

• The similarities between the US and the USSR, as countries that distorted their political and economic systems to become global superpowers, were/are greater than the differences. The implication is that the US will suffer a fate similar to the USSR: economic, political, and social collapse.
  
• A comparison of the US and USSR's economic and social systems reveals that at a deep level, the US is much less resilient than the USSR. This implies that a collapse of the US will be substantially worse than the experience of the Soviet Union.
  
• A series of insights on how to survive the collapse of a superpower (this is my favorite section).

McMAFIA by Misha Glenny

Glenny dutifully documents, in exquisite detail, the rise of transnational criminal organizations in every global region. Simple formula: morally neutral global economic platform + economic/social distress = the rapid proliferation and unabated growth of transnational criminal organizations. The book is an excellent read and a natural compliment/backgrounder to Brave New War's analysis. Without a fundamental revision of global governance (not very likely), we will soon become very familiar with local variants of the stories he documents.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Resilient Community

What am I doing? I've been hard at work on my next book: The Resilient Community.

Recent thoughts? While I was writing this morning, I was surprised at how much Brave New War's (BNW) exploration of the future of warfare informs the new book on:

a) the nature of the emerging threats that will be faced and

b) how a Resilient Community can defend itself.

As a result, I think that people that liked BNW will find the chapter on warfare in the RC book very interesting indeed.

My goal with this book? I hope this book will provide readers with a useful eschatology for the current global system and a conceptual blueprint for the DIY (do-it-yourself) efforts necessary to build a Resilient Community.

The reaction the book will get? For those that completely tied to or immersed in the legacy system, this book will be a very scary read. For those that are fearless and willing to adapt in order to progress, it will become a go to reference.

BOOK REVIEW: Terror and Consent (Bobbitt)

I wasn't impressed with Philip Bobbitt's new book on terrrorism, "Terror and Consent." I've posted the review to Amazon. Short reason: his book relies on the popular and simplistic narrative fallacy (for example: "The Looming Tower") that explains the source and future of terrorism. I had hoped for something smarter.

THE GLOBAL GUERRILLA BRIEFING

Over the past several months, I have given "the global guerrilla briefing" over 14 times.  It was a roaring success with every audience.  Why?  It provides audiences with the insight they needed to understand what was going on in Iraq and the war on terrorism.  It makes sense of the chaos.  It also provides insight into how this war is going to evolve over the next 3-5 years.

So, if your organization wants to anticipate rather than respond to events, please contact me for more information (contact information).