As governments, corporations and universities pour funds into quantum…
Project Z
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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As the Cold War ends, a professor goes in search of an America without an enemy. Armed with a Hi8 video camera and inspired by the detective work of Walter Benjamin, he heads deep into the inner circles of the defense, entertainment and media industries, where he discovers a worst-case future being built from war games, video games, and language games.
Some thirty years later, a group of student filmmakers find the videotapes in a filing cabinet, along with a stack of old newspaper clippings, audio interviews and photographs. With the help of friends from the Global Media Project, the filmmaker produces an experimental documentary that goes back to the future, where they find the original maps for a new world order. An unexpected warning is found on the outermost edges of the maps: 'Beware of Zombies!'
The result is PROJECT Z, a film that updates another warning, issued by President Eisenhower in his 1961 farewell address, about the emergence of a 'military-industrial complex' and the consequences should 'public policy be captured by a scientific and technological elite'.
Combining rare footage from inside the war machine with corrosive commentary by leading critics of global violence, injustice, and inequality, the film challenges the living to write their own future before the walking dead conjure the final global event.
'The 21st century's horror show of automated warfare seemed to come from nowhere. Many of us are still trying to catch up. James Der Derian and Phil Gara are not. Project Z takes us back to the future of post-human warfare, when it was still incipient, before our fate was sealed. In a riveting tour of the laboratories for our now permanent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and beyond, Project Z captures a world historic moment just before it takes place.' Jairus Grove, Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Hawaii at Manoa
'Project Z is an amazing treasure trove for students of world politics. It documents that surveillance, simulations, remote killing and cyber crises have been with us for decades, yet constantly morph. Part fact finding mission, part political analysis, this film asks: What future do we want and for whom? Students will learn, love and change from and with Project Z.' Lene Hansen, Professor of Political Science, University of Copenhagen
'Disturbing and provocative...Project Z is perhaps above all a form of media about media, and as such runs along the lines of information command and control. It is a film that ventures beyond simply describing the weaponization of the signal, the ramped up virtualization of violence by war training cum entertainment.' Mike Hill, University at Albany-SUNY, Feedback
'Project Z comes on meditatively, a distant storm of images and interviews gathering to explain the new terrain of our post-national, neoliberal globe. Soon the metaphors - from viruses to terrorist cells, stock market bubbles, and yes zombies - start to crawl through clouds like heat lightning. Before you know it, the film strikes with multiple flashes of insight.' Roger Stahl, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of Georgia, Author, Militainment, Inc.: War, Media, and Popular Culture
'In this clever, disorienting film, we are forced to see ourselves in the figure of the zombie, to see the zombie as ubiquitous and not only troubling but troubled. Ultimately, this is a film about how to be in the world, how to be mindful, conscious, and connected in our engagement with the myriad relations that constitute social and political life.' Laura J. Shepherd, Associate Professor of International Relations, UNSW Australia, Author, Gender, Violence and Popular Culture: Telling Stories
'A vivid depiction of global risk society and a vital critique of the inadequacies of militarized problem-solving in the face of it...Begs us to consider the question: how are peace and security best achieved in an intimately interconnected world? Perfect for use in courses on globalization, US foreign policy and international relations.' Dr. Stacy Takacs, Associate Professor and Director of American Studies, Oklahoma State University, Author,Terrorism TV: Popular Entertainment in Post-9/11 America
'Project Z offers a sobering account of the dystopic intersections of war, the state, security, economy, the environment, and global struggle. As one military leader states in the film, 'the nation makes war the way the nation makes wealth.' This film challenges its audience not to accept this articulation of war and wealth and to instead reclaim the planet in a more humane and democratic vision.' Michael L. Butterworth, Director and Associate Professor, School of Communication Studies, Ohio University
'Project Z powerfully re-orients our understanding of the political world. Visually arresting and intellectually unorthodox, this film will encourage students of international politics to adjust their vision and replenish their minds.' Gerry Simpson, Kenneth Bailey Professor of International Law, University of Melbourne, Author, Law, War and Crime: War Crimes Trials and the Reinvention of International Law
'Project Z and its Study Guide will have viewers considering the roles of government, institutions, and individuals in the creation of a desirable future society.' Eugene Nalence, Science Books and Films
Citation
Main credits
Der Derian, James (screenwriter)
Der Derian, James (film producer)
Gara, Phillip (film director)
Gara, Phillip (editor of moving image work)
Other credits
Cinematography by James Der Derian and Phillip Gara; edited by Phillip Gara.
Distributor subjects
American Studies; Anthropology; Communications; Computer Games Design; Foreign Policy, US; History; International Studies; Media Literacy; Military; Political Science; Popular Culture; Sociology; War and PeaceKeywords
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(EERIE AMBIENT SOUND)
00:00:44.550 --> 00:00:48.390
- I found the shoebox in
a locked filing cabinet.
00:00:48.390 --> 00:00:53.136
It was full of tapes;
mostly Hi-8 analog,
00:00:53.136 --> 00:00:57.420
a few digital,
some Super 8 film.
00:00:57.420 --> 00:01:01.060
The labels were
faded, barely legible.
00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:03.420
They sounded like places.
00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:08.921
Simcom, DARPA, ICT, 29 PALMS.
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:15.882
There were some interviews.
00:01:15.882 --> 00:01:21.590
Admiral Cebrowski, General
Clark, Paul Virilio.
00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:29.640
Under the box I found
more tapes, old VHS
00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:31.215
and one-inch broadcast tapes.
00:01:43.912 --> 00:01:46.120
- It may sound like something
out of science fiction.
00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:48.970
But we need to recognize that
this was a new kind of war.
00:01:48.970 --> 00:01:52.390
A war of speed and surveillance,
a simulation of spectacle,
00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:55.090
a pop war ready made
for the video arcade.
00:01:55.090 --> 00:01:56.560
It was our first cyber war.
00:02:05.320 --> 00:02:09.804
- It took five years, but with
the help of eBay and a group
00:02:09.804 --> 00:02:17.928
of co-conspirators, I
discovered Project Z.
00:02:35.856 --> 00:02:38.700
- The world had shifted.
00:02:38.700 --> 00:02:43.250
The fall of the Berlin Wall
opened up possibilities.
00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:45.415
And I thought, well, this is it.
00:02:45.415 --> 00:02:47.720
Let's see who's
modeling the new world.
00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:51.310
And as a militist I said,
maybe the new currency of power
00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:52.322
is information.
00:02:52.322 --> 00:02:53.740
So that's why I
went on the road.
00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:55.580
I decided, well
let's just test this.
00:02:55.580 --> 00:02:58.860
Let's empirically test
some of these ideas.
00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:00.200
So that started it.
00:03:00.200 --> 00:03:04.906
And then, you know, you get
moving on these journeys,
00:03:04.906 --> 00:03:08.400
you find out something at
each stop that gives you
00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:09.692
a reason to go further.
00:03:09.692 --> 00:03:12.230
It's like going down
the rabbit hole.
00:03:12.230 --> 00:03:14.070
I had to follow it
to the end to see
00:03:14.070 --> 00:03:16.200
just how weird it would get.
00:03:54.623 --> 00:03:57.617
(WIND WHIPPING)
00:04:02.495 --> 00:04:03.360
(MOTOR RUNNING)
00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.740
- OK, while the
camera's going...
00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:07.720
What was this dream
you had the other day?
00:04:07.720 --> 00:04:10.690
- Oh, It was very strange.
00:04:10.690 --> 00:04:12.670
I had been on the
ground out here.
00:04:12.670 --> 00:04:14.887
This is my fifth time,
but this time I've
00:04:14.887 --> 00:04:16.220
been down here about three days.
00:04:18.829 --> 00:04:21.970
I had a very vivid dream
about a corporation,
00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:26.135
grabbed up thousands of square
miles of land near here.
00:04:26.135 --> 00:04:29.600
The corporation's
name was WarCo.
00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:34.720
Their whole idea was,
let's create an environment
00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:40.605
where we can simulate
battles and contract them
00:04:40.605 --> 00:04:43.490
for various nations.
00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:51.215
This is a way they can solve
their problems with decisions
00:04:51.215 --> 00:04:57.504
coming down from a
World Court-like power.
00:04:57.504 --> 00:04:59.964
And it would help out
the corporate structure
00:04:59.964 --> 00:05:00.948
around the world.
00:05:00.948 --> 00:05:06.545
So WarCo was formed, and
they were marketing this
00:05:06.545 --> 00:05:08.786
to different countries.
00:05:13.766 --> 00:05:17.252
- This dream you
had the other day,
00:05:17.252 --> 00:05:19.156
did it have a happy ending?
00:05:19.156 --> 00:05:21.632
- Didn't get to the ending.
00:05:21.632 --> 00:05:22.132
- Ha!
00:05:22.132 --> 00:05:22.632
Great.
00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:43.000
My virtual hajj
began at Fort Irwin,
00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:44.630
to see how the
future of warfare was
00:05:44.630 --> 00:05:48.230
being written in the sands
of the Mojave Desert.
00:05:48.230 --> 00:05:50.510
I was there to witness
the Advanced Warfighting
00:05:50.510 --> 00:05:54.710
Experiment, aka AWE,
an early forerunner
00:05:54.710 --> 00:05:58.292
of what Donald Rumsfeld would
later call "Shock and Awe."
00:05:58.292 --> 00:06:00.310
In the blank slate of
the California desert,
00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:02.863
I saw the beginnings of
a so-called "revolution
00:06:02.863 --> 00:06:05.128
in military affairs."
00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.700
In the future, who do
you see the simulations
00:06:08.700 --> 00:06:11.380
being fought against,
given the changing nature
00:06:11.380 --> 00:06:12.640
of the international system?
00:06:12.640 --> 00:06:14.640
- Well, the threat will
consistently change.
00:06:14.640 --> 00:06:19.210
What we need to do is we need
to train against a well-trained,
00:06:19.210 --> 00:06:21.690
well-organized threat --
even if that threat is maybe
00:06:21.690 --> 00:06:22.190
non-existant
00:06:22.190 --> 00:06:23.144
(HELICOPTER FLYING)
00:06:23.144 --> 00:06:25.529
right now as far as
potential adversaries.
00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:33.340
Right now at the NTC we
fight the Krasnovians.
00:06:33.340 --> 00:06:37.300
The Krasnovians use
Soviet-style doctrine,
00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:39.450
but they are unlike any
Soviet army on Earth
00:06:39.450 --> 00:06:42.367
because there is no
Soviet army anymore.
00:06:42.367 --> 00:06:44.852
(WIND WHIPPING)
00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:55.070
- Now, who do you
see as the next enemy
00:06:55.070 --> 00:06:57.347
that will be using a
Soviet military doctrine?
00:07:01.090 --> 00:07:03.420
- I'd say anything
like, Syria...
00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:06.390
I think Syria, maybe Jordan.
00:07:06.390 --> 00:07:08.755
I'm fairly certain
Iraq is Soviet-style,
00:07:08.755 --> 00:07:11.690
and I'm fairly certain
Iran is Soviet-style.
00:07:11.690 --> 00:07:14.920
Libya probably is, you know
all those places that we
00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:16.270
have all these unfriendlies.
00:07:16.270 --> 00:07:19.049
So you really can
never be 100% sure
00:07:19.049 --> 00:07:20.590
if you're getting
pure Soviet tactics
00:07:20.590 --> 00:07:22.980
or you're getting an
adapted version of it.
00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:26.080
Like, Soviet tactics didn't
really work in Afghanistan.
00:07:26.080 --> 00:07:29.706
I mean, when have you known the
Soviets to pull out of a place?
00:07:29.706 --> 00:07:31.830
- They were fighting the
wrong war game, in effect.
00:07:31.830 --> 00:07:32.520
- Right.
00:07:32.520 --> 00:07:33.686
Which is sort of like
we did in Vietnam when
00:07:33.686 --> 00:07:35.807
we were trying to play
World War II with Vietnam.
00:07:39.783 --> 00:07:41.771
- Looks like he's done
some serious damage.
00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.490
- And right now you wear the
beret of the Krasnovians.
00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:47.370
I see the red star.
00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:47.960
- Yes.
00:07:47.960 --> 00:07:49.460
- What kind of
headgear do you think
00:07:49.460 --> 00:07:51.230
you'll be wearing
in the war games,
00:07:51.230 --> 00:07:53.100
say 10 years, 5
years down the line?
00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:55.050
- That's absolutely
impossible for me to tell.
00:07:55.050 --> 00:07:57.660
But I imagine our uniforms
will not change that much.
00:07:57.660 --> 00:07:59.880
The uniforms don't
matter as much
00:07:59.880 --> 00:08:03.330
as the thinking that goes
behind how the threat is
00:08:03.330 --> 00:08:04.395
going to be deployed.
00:08:04.395 --> 00:08:09.610
(INTERPOSING VOICES)
00:08:09.610 --> 00:08:11.760
- We can shoot this
laser beam out there,
00:08:11.760 --> 00:08:14.390
it can return and give you a
10-digit direct coordinate.
00:08:14.390 --> 00:08:16.480
Simultaneously,
it also goes back
00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.342
to the Star Wars building
or the operations center.
00:08:20.342 --> 00:08:21.800
- With this, we
have the capability
00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:24.035
to receive simultaneously
from the Joint Strike
00:08:24.035 --> 00:08:27.190
aircraft, the unmanned aerial
vehicle, and the commander's
00:08:27.190 --> 00:08:28.870
tactical internal radio network.
00:08:28.870 --> 00:08:31.290
- With the computer system
that we got right here,
00:08:31.290 --> 00:08:33.250
and with the Mounted
Soldier System,
00:08:33.250 --> 00:08:35.549
we're also giving
him a real life,
00:08:35.549 --> 00:08:38.299
as-if-he-was-there look
at the battlefields.
00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:39.840
- We have the
helmet-mounted display,
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:41.200
or HMD as we like to call it.
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:42.890
Through this, we see
our computer screen
00:08:42.890 --> 00:08:44.760
and our three visual devices.
00:08:44.760 --> 00:08:47.160
We can see through
smoke, fog, anything that
00:08:47.160 --> 00:08:48.580
would limit our visibility.
00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:50.080
What you see is what you get.
00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:51.560
This is just a prototype.
00:08:51.560 --> 00:08:54.490
But in the future we plan to
get it smaller and lighter.
00:08:54.490 --> 00:08:56.750
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:08:59.010 --> 00:09:01.550
- After Wired Magazine
took me on as a freelancer,
00:09:01.550 --> 00:09:03.430
I was able to travel deeper.
00:09:03.430 --> 00:09:06.000
I wanted to go where
virtuality confronted reality,
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.470
or as my military
handlers put it, "Where
00:09:08.470 --> 00:09:10.110
the rubber meets the road."
00:09:10.110 --> 00:09:12.650
After Fort Irwin, I headed
to Orlando, Florida,
00:09:12.650 --> 00:09:14.870
home of Disney World
but also STRICOM --
00:09:14.870 --> 00:09:17.190
one of the strangest,
the newest,
00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:20.340
most unusual command
posts in the military.
00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:23.530
On my journey, I took with
me my Hi-8 video camera
00:09:23.530 --> 00:09:25.255
as my visual notebook.
00:09:25.255 --> 00:09:28.456
I tried to make sense of
this new kind of warfare.
00:09:28.456 --> 00:09:30.328
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:09:33.800 --> 00:09:34.550
- What's it about?
00:09:34.550 --> 00:09:35.591
- It's about simulations.
00:09:41.420 --> 00:09:44.162
- "The very
definition of the real
00:09:44.162 --> 00:09:53.054
has become that of which it is
possible to give an equivalent
00:09:53.054 --> 00:09:56.018
reproduction.
00:09:56.018 --> 00:10:00.464
The real is not only
what can be reproduced,
00:10:00.464 --> 00:10:06.062
but that which is always
already reproduced."
00:10:06.062 --> 00:10:08.557
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:10:08.557 --> 00:10:10.383
I don't think I'd like this.
00:10:10.383 --> 00:10:12.549
It doesn't sound like
something I would do out here.
00:10:18.325 --> 00:10:20.533
- (RECORDED VOICE) The
CompuServe family of synthetic
00:10:20.533 --> 00:10:23.527
environment products is setting
the standard for the creation
00:10:23.527 --> 00:10:27.516
of the MC-130, and B-1,
and B-2 training systems.
00:10:27.516 --> 00:10:29.515
- (RECORDED VOICE) It was
designed for the rapid
00:10:29.515 --> 00:10:33.008
automated generation of
visual databases from standard
00:10:33.008 --> 00:10:36.501
and non-standard sources for
certified ready-for-training
00:10:36.501 --> 00:10:38.996
months before Desert Storm.
00:10:38.996 --> 00:10:44.055
- As one walks the floor of this
conference, what is striking
00:10:44.055 --> 00:10:46.013
is the high tech nature
of training simulation.
00:10:46.013 --> 00:10:48.398
This place is better
than Disney World
00:10:48.398 --> 00:10:51.740
and better than a
science fiction novel.
00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:53.300
This is where fantasy
meets reality,
00:10:53.300 --> 00:10:56.770
a Mecca for the true aficonado
of state-of-the-art whizz-bang
00:10:56.770 --> 00:10:58.240
high tech.
00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:01.220
And it is here, at
this conference,
00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:04.494
that you start truly to
understand why and how we
00:11:04.494 --> 00:11:05.313
won the Gulf War.
00:11:05.313 --> 00:11:07.768
- This is the biggest
simulation program of all time,
00:11:07.768 --> 00:11:11.696
involving multiple billions of
dollars stretched out between
00:11:11.696 --> 00:11:15.624
now and the first decade of
the... in the 21st century.
00:11:15.624 --> 00:11:18.570
- We're now part of, I
think, an unbroken chain
00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:22.498
between the industry and
the DoD, the Army, the Navy,
00:11:22.498 --> 00:11:23.480
and the Air Force.
00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:24.462
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:11:24.462 --> 00:11:26.426
- We're also big into
network simulation.
00:11:26.426 --> 00:11:30.370
- It normally costs about
$1,500 for a laser grenade.
00:11:30.370 --> 00:11:32.540
- Is there any
possibility that sailors
00:11:32.540 --> 00:11:35.520
will confuse, say, the
simulation with the reality?
00:11:35.520 --> 00:11:38.400
- Well, this is
always a big concern.
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.430
This is always a big
concern that we have,
00:11:47.430 --> 00:11:51.550
is that there has got to be a
disconnect between the button
00:11:51.550 --> 00:11:54.730
that they push to launch
that missile and the missile
00:11:54.730 --> 00:11:56.352
launcher itself.
00:11:56.352 --> 00:12:00.034
Other than that, I want
them to understand that they
00:12:00.034 --> 00:12:01.753
are in a real-world situation.
00:12:01.753 --> 00:12:04.208
I want them to
feel beads of sweat
00:12:04.208 --> 00:12:06.172
coming down on to the brow.
00:12:06.172 --> 00:12:08.136
(CROWD MURMURING)
00:12:08.136 --> 00:12:10.100
- I think you're
going to find out
00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:12.555
that there are many sectors
of the entertainment industry
00:12:12.555 --> 00:12:15.540
that have a great deal in
common with your businesses.
00:12:15.540 --> 00:12:18.810
So if some of this
seems reasonable, good.
00:12:18.810 --> 00:12:20.800
If not, then again,
keep in mind,
00:12:20.800 --> 00:12:24.485
we win successful contracts
with smoke and mirrors.
00:12:24.485 --> 00:12:25.898
(LAUGHTER)
00:12:25.898 --> 00:12:27.630
It's a good thing
in our business.
00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:34.380
One of the things I'd
like to do this evening
00:12:34.380 --> 00:12:37.120
is tell you a little
bit about what we do,
00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.530
and more to the point how
it applies to what you do.
00:12:40.530 --> 00:12:44.016
Many of you know this already
because we're working with you.
00:12:44.016 --> 00:12:47.502
-...human beings, and his
movements being articulated...
00:12:47.502 --> 00:12:50.988
represented in the
virtual environment.
00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:55.470
- Well we see possible
uses for mission rehearsal,
00:12:55.470 --> 00:12:58.458
so that a person can
practice before he actually
00:12:58.458 --> 00:13:02.442
lands in a place
like Bosnia or Haiti,
00:13:02.442 --> 00:13:05.343
and physically go through
himself the buildings
00:13:05.343 --> 00:13:06.426
where he's going to fight.
00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:10.908
- How did the entertainment
industry use this?
00:13:10.908 --> 00:13:14.394
- Um, actually they used
it for special effects.
00:13:14.394 --> 00:13:17.382
For example in the Batman
movies where you physically
00:13:17.382 --> 00:13:20.370
don't want a person
swinging between buildings.
00:13:20.370 --> 00:13:21.864
You could simulate that.
00:13:21.864 --> 00:13:25.350
And in fact, it was used for
the Batman movies, and Alien.
00:13:25.350 --> 00:13:26.844
[EXPLOSIONS]
00:13:26.844 --> 00:13:29.500
- So the project actually
started a couple years ago back
00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:33.318
in 1994 when, after a
General Officers' Symposium,
00:13:33.318 --> 00:13:36.140
we were tasked to take a look
at commercial off-the-shelf war
00:13:36.140 --> 00:13:39.294
games to see if any could
help teach an appreciation
00:13:39.294 --> 00:13:40.788
for the art and
science of warfare.
00:13:40.788 --> 00:13:44.422
And right away we saw Doom,
started playing with that,
00:13:44.422 --> 00:13:47.481
and rather quickly identified
it as having potential
00:13:47.481 --> 00:13:49.459
as a micro-tactical trainer.
00:13:49.459 --> 00:13:52.000
- So what... how would you rate
this compared to the civilian
00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:53.195
version?
00:13:53.195 --> 00:13:54.945
- Oh I would say it's
much more realistic,
00:13:54.945 --> 00:13:56.340
the changes we've made.
00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:58.810
Because we've turned your
health down to 20% to start off,
00:13:58.810 --> 00:14:00.425
so a couple of hits
and you're dead.
00:14:00.425 --> 00:14:02.175
Took out all the science
fiction monsters,
00:14:02.175 --> 00:14:04.800
goblins, sci-fi weapons,
all that kind of stuff,
00:14:04.800 --> 00:14:07.122
and really Marine-ized
it as best we could.
00:14:07.122 --> 00:14:07.622
(GUNFIRE)
00:14:07.622 --> 00:14:09.080
- If you were hit
by enemy fire...?
00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:09.827
- Right.
00:14:09.827 --> 00:14:11.495
Your screen'll turn red-- Hey!
00:14:11.495 --> 00:14:12.435
What are you doing?!
00:14:12.435 --> 00:14:13.500
- Is that friendly fire?
00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:14.752
- Yeah, that's friendly fire.
00:14:14.752 --> 00:14:15.252
(LAUGHTER)
00:14:15.252 --> 00:14:17.855
- Do you see anything you do
for the entertainment industry
00:14:17.855 --> 00:14:19.260
of value for the military?
00:14:19.260 --> 00:14:21.246
Which way does
the spill-over go?
00:14:21.246 --> 00:14:23.370
- Actually, it goes from
military to entertainment.
00:14:23.370 --> 00:14:26.087
What we find is that the
leading-edge simulators
00:14:26.087 --> 00:14:27.920
actually go over into
entertainment directly
00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:29.788
to the games market.
00:14:29.788 --> 00:14:33.080
And then even a little
bit more indirectly
00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:34.210
to the entertainment field.
00:14:34.210 --> 00:14:37.410
But the military battle
simulation techniques
00:14:37.410 --> 00:14:39.204
of a couple of years
ago are now part
00:14:39.204 --> 00:14:40.870
of this year's
electronic games that are
00:14:40.870 --> 00:14:42.160
being introduced at Christmas.
00:14:49.585 --> 00:14:51.441
The whole purpose of
this is an experiment
00:14:51.441 --> 00:14:53.315
which is being installed
at Fort Hood, Texas,
00:14:53.315 --> 00:14:56.935
to assist the Army in digitizing
the battlefield from brigade
00:14:56.935 --> 00:14:58.434
down to an individual
soldier level.
00:14:58.434 --> 00:15:00.910
- And so we can put them in a
position where they can train
00:15:00.910 --> 00:15:04.800
for night flights over Baghdad,
or see what they can see...
00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:07.100
foresee about the target
area and the environment
00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:09.225
that's there, where the
various enemy defenses are,
00:15:09.225 --> 00:15:10.650
how to be able to avoid them.
00:15:10.650 --> 00:15:12.235
- Are you doing any
work like on, you
00:15:12.235 --> 00:15:14.135
know, more abstract
considerations
00:15:14.135 --> 00:15:18.410
of future wars,
future conflicts?
00:15:18.410 --> 00:15:21.530
- Well, the war game effort that
we were talking about is really
00:15:21.530 --> 00:15:22.030
part of...
00:15:22.030 --> 00:15:24.154
I don't know if you're
familiar with Andy Marshall?
00:15:24.154 --> 00:15:26.220
In effect, this Newport
war game that I described
00:15:26.220 --> 00:15:29.285
was in fact a part of Andy
Marshall's capabilities
00:15:29.285 --> 00:15:31.410
that they have, the managing
technology revolution.
00:15:31.410 --> 00:15:34.030
What they're using
is the simulation
00:15:34.030 --> 00:15:35.890
as a way of being able
to evaluate things
00:15:35.890 --> 00:15:37.322
for which we have no forces.
00:15:37.322 --> 00:15:39.030
Or what technology --
a new technology --
00:15:39.030 --> 00:15:39.985
could bring to bear.
00:15:39.985 --> 00:15:42.860
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:46.622
- At the end of the Cold War,
and the loss of this enemy and,
00:15:46.622 --> 00:15:48.586
you know, the
seven major threats
00:15:48.586 --> 00:15:52.514
that Wolfowitz, I think,
just came up with and others.
00:15:52.514 --> 00:15:54.969
Can you compare that to any
other time where you've seen
00:15:54.969 --> 00:15:55.951
this...
00:15:55.951 --> 00:15:59.819
suddenly everything
seemed to be wide open?
00:15:59.819 --> 00:16:01.938
It wasn't quite clear
if there's going
00:16:01.938 --> 00:16:03.460
to be a re-emerging
global threat,
00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:04.710
I think is what you'd call it.
00:16:04.710 --> 00:16:07.672
Have you ever seen like
that in your time here?
00:16:07.672 --> 00:16:08.960
- No, I think not in my time.
00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.500
But if you look back in
history, I think you see...
00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:14.780
I mean, the '20s were like that.
00:16:14.780 --> 00:16:16.860
In the '20s, I mean,
turned out to be
00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:23.620
a period of illusion about what
the world was going to be like.
00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:27.085
We were at the beginning of
this kind of technical change.
00:16:27.085 --> 00:16:31.410
And you know, working out
its implications for whether
00:16:31.410 --> 00:16:36.350
something like the '30s before
it... you know, I don't know.
00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:39.710
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:43.320
- The new world order is long
on new and short on order.
00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:45.945
As one recent observer
has characterized it,
00:16:45.945 --> 00:16:49.030
"1,000 points of darkness."
00:16:49.030 --> 00:16:51.480
This is because the new
world we have entered
00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.000
is far from being
clearly definable.
00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:58.340
And it cannot be characterized
as precisely and as succinctly
00:16:58.340 --> 00:17:01.480
as the one from which
we are emerging.
00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:05.060
Yes, we have slain
a large dragon.
00:17:05.060 --> 00:17:07.470
But we live now
in a jungle filled
00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:11.339
with a bewildering variety
of poisonous snakes.
00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:15.567
And in many ways, the dragon
was easier to keep track of.
00:17:15.567 --> 00:17:18.281
(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)
00:17:18.281 --> 00:17:18.780
- ...
00:17:18.780 --> 00:17:21.751
I'm the Deputy S3 for the
Combat Maneuver Training Center
00:17:21.751 --> 00:17:23.006
here in Hohenfels, Germany.
00:17:23.006 --> 00:17:25.339
What I'd like to do at this
time is give you an overview
00:17:25.339 --> 00:17:29.390
briefing of CMTC and some
of the significant actions
00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:31.650
we take here to train
forces in Europe
00:17:31.650 --> 00:17:36.610
on operations other than war
and high-intensity conflict ops.
00:17:36.610 --> 00:17:39.380
The point that our slide in
the briefing made to you,
00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:41.690
is that in the spectrum --
hopefully made to you --
00:17:41.690 --> 00:17:45.340
in the spectrum of conflict
that goes from war to peace,
00:17:45.340 --> 00:17:47.770
you have this gray area in
the middle which sometimes
00:17:47.770 --> 00:17:48.570
isn't gray.
00:17:48.570 --> 00:17:51.270
You may be manning a
checkpoint, manning an OP,
00:17:51.270 --> 00:17:52.830
and in another
part of your AO you
00:17:52.830 --> 00:17:55.200
got people shooting missiles
at helicopters and missiles
00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:56.560
at F-16s.
00:17:56.560 --> 00:17:58.625
So what area are we in?
00:17:58.625 --> 00:18:01.215
(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)
00:18:03.914 --> 00:18:05.080
- We're glad the UN is here.
00:18:05.080 --> 00:18:06.740
Basically without
them, we will be
00:18:06.740 --> 00:18:10.910
crushed by the godless,
heartless, cowardly villains
00:18:10.910 --> 00:18:13.450
that oppose us on every border.
00:18:13.450 --> 00:18:15.670
We perceive their
arrival as a saving.
00:18:15.670 --> 00:18:18.540
They're coming to protect
us from terrorist attacks
00:18:18.540 --> 00:18:21.620
and overwhelming military force.
00:18:21.620 --> 00:18:23.240
And they're not...
00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:26.064
basically they're not kicking
ass and taking down names.
00:18:26.064 --> 00:18:26.980
(SOUND OF TANK MOVING)
00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:28.750
- This is the town
of Ubingsdorf.
00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:32.429
It portrays a town within
the... that happens to be inside
00:18:32.429 --> 00:18:34.297
the Zone of Separation.
00:18:34.297 --> 00:18:38.310
And it's close to the line
separating the eastern portion
00:18:38.310 --> 00:18:39.950
from Vilslakia.
00:18:39.950 --> 00:18:42.460
We're in Vilslakia now,
inside the United Nations
00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:43.424
Zone of Separation.
00:18:43.424 --> 00:18:45.590
And it looks like there's
some kind of demonstration
00:18:45.590 --> 00:18:47.700
or some kind of activity
going on up here.
00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:53.752
- The area is broken down
now into Sowenia, Vilslakia,
00:18:53.752 --> 00:18:55.470
and also Juraland.
00:18:55.470 --> 00:18:58.396
And north of us, we even have
a place called Freedonia.
00:18:58.396 --> 00:19:00.270
We put them in what I
call the "grunge" look,
00:19:00.270 --> 00:19:02.700
the Eastern European
look, if you will.
00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:05.863
As you see, here's an example
of some of these guys walking
00:19:05.863 --> 00:19:06.363
around here.
00:19:06.363 --> 00:19:11.173
(SHOUTING)
00:19:11.173 --> 00:19:13.650
- You're talking about span
of command and control.
00:19:13.650 --> 00:19:17.280
You're talking about the
ability of an organization
00:19:17.280 --> 00:19:20.650
to deal with complex tasks
with additional assets being
00:19:20.650 --> 00:19:22.635
thrown at the
battalion commanders,
00:19:22.635 --> 00:19:24.360
such as civil affairs.
00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:27.691
(CROWD SHOUTING)
00:19:27.691 --> 00:19:28.190
- No food!
00:19:28.190 --> 00:19:28.422
Take.
00:19:28.422 --> 00:19:29.120
Take.
00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:31.140
- He's now at the front line.
00:19:31.140 --> 00:19:34.760
I mean, he could cause
this thing to pass or fail.
00:19:34.760 --> 00:19:37.737
(CROWD CHANTING)
00:19:37.737 --> 00:19:39.195
We think it's very,
very important.
00:19:39.195 --> 00:19:40.970
And so I've got a
bunch of folks upstairs
00:19:40.970 --> 00:19:44.390
who suck everybody's brain dry.
00:19:44.390 --> 00:19:46.450
And things happen out
on the battlefield
00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:48.394
almost within the next 24 hours.
00:19:48.394 --> 00:19:50.864
(DRONING MUSIC PLAYING)
00:19:51.852 --> 00:19:54.816
(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)
00:19:54.816 --> 00:19:57.286
- Do your best to
clear in one direction.
00:19:57.286 --> 00:20:00.744
I'll be sending two forces
out to clear a route.
00:20:00.744 --> 00:20:02.720
You will bump into each other.
00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:03.708
Guarantee it.
00:20:03.708 --> 00:20:06.178
Not only that, it gives
the enemies no out.
00:20:06.178 --> 00:20:08.590
The key is for them
to go in there,
00:20:08.590 --> 00:20:11.780
establish a humanitarian
situation, few casualties.
00:20:11.780 --> 00:20:14.030
And there... a lot of times
there's language barriers.
00:20:14.030 --> 00:20:16.090
Occasionally they'll be
called names because...
00:20:16.090 --> 00:20:18.214
it's more psychological
warfare, kind of train them
00:20:18.214 --> 00:20:20.231
for that situation.
00:20:20.231 --> 00:20:22.700
In the civil war, we don't
wear Furzian uniforms
00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:24.390
and they don't wear
Boolean uniforms.
00:20:24.390 --> 00:20:26.550
The terrorists don't
wear any special uniform.
00:20:26.550 --> 00:20:28.420
So therefore, they have to
be able to go into a village
00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:30.586
and identify who's a friendly,
who's the unfriendly?
00:20:30.586 --> 00:20:33.770
Who's the Furzian, who's
the ... who's the Boolean...
00:20:33.770 --> 00:20:36.400
- Who's the Orange
and who's the Greens?
00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.350
- And the Orange and
the Greens, well, we're
00:20:38.350 --> 00:20:39.480
all from the land of Green.
00:20:41.026 --> 00:20:42.650
- A lot of them have
played Doom, a lot
00:20:42.650 --> 00:20:44.110
have played other video games.
00:20:44.110 --> 00:20:45.950
So there's an
intuitive sense of how
00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:49.700
video technology and
computer technology
00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:53.195
works that we probably wouldn't
have seen in their older
00:20:53.195 --> 00:20:54.320
brother's generation, even.
00:20:56.212 --> 00:20:57.920
- Do you ever worry
though that it'll get
00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.134
too much like a Nintendo game?
00:21:00.134 --> 00:21:02.300
- The way they're pushing
it, they're trying to push
00:21:02.300 --> 00:21:05.382
for the big... big
computer-generated thing,
00:21:05.382 --> 00:21:06.804
run you here and there.
00:21:06.804 --> 00:21:08.607
And to...
00:21:08.607 --> 00:21:10.440
basically like the
Aliens, off the Aliens...
00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:11.070
Space Marines.
00:21:11.070 --> 00:21:12.570
Future, technology,
all of them have
00:21:12.570 --> 00:21:13.232
their own computer-built things.
00:21:13.232 --> 00:21:15.642
That's what it's probably
eventually moving towards.
00:21:15.642 --> 00:21:18.180
But it'd be, you know, many
years before we see that.
00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:20.940
- You mean the Colonial
Marines, and Aliens?
00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:21.440
- Yeah.
00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:22.440
- Yeah, they were great.
00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:23.815
- Yeah, it was
interesting there.
00:21:23.815 --> 00:21:25.295
But what did they
learn from that?
00:21:25.295 --> 00:21:27.620
Platoon Commander sat
in the dang vehicle,
00:21:27.620 --> 00:21:29.469
wasn't out with his men.
00:21:29.469 --> 00:21:31.010
- That's why Ripley
had to take over.
00:21:31.010 --> 00:21:31.511
- Of course.
00:21:31.511 --> 00:21:33.010
You always need a
warrior somewhere,
00:21:33.010 --> 00:21:34.718
someone's that's not
afraid to get dirty.
00:21:34.718 --> 00:21:35.310
(LAUGHTER)
00:21:35.310 --> 00:21:38.122
Eventually we may need
that if it goes, you know,
00:21:38.122 --> 00:21:40.590
a big conflict like with
Saddam or something.
00:21:40.590 --> 00:21:44.069
(MUSIC PLAYING)
00:21:53.020 --> 00:21:55.640
- Today's contract signing
will establish a historic
00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:58.610
partnership between
the United States Army
00:21:58.610 --> 00:22:02.460
and California's world-renowned
entertainment, high-tech,
00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:04.390
and higher education
communities.
00:22:04.390 --> 00:22:07.140
And this project will
prepare America's soldiers
00:22:07.140 --> 00:22:10.030
for the diverse and
unusual military operations
00:22:10.030 --> 00:22:11.620
of the future.
00:22:11.620 --> 00:22:13.310
All in all, this
landmark venture
00:22:13.310 --> 00:22:16.560
will help us build a future
that is brighter, more
00:22:16.560 --> 00:22:19.849
prosperous, and more secure.
00:22:19.849 --> 00:22:21.390
Now if we could only
figure out a way
00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:24.500
to create a virtual Governor, I
could be in two places at once,
00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:26.766
and I would give you the
rest of the year off.
00:22:26.766 --> 00:22:29.250
(APPLAUSE)
00:22:29.250 --> 00:22:33.120
- This $45 million contract
will fund joint modeling
00:22:33.120 --> 00:22:37.250
and simulation technologies
research that has high-value
00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:41.440
applications for the Army as
well as for the entertainment,
00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:46.400
multimedia, video game,
film, destination theme park,
00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.850
and information technology
industries that are such a key
00:22:49.850 --> 00:22:52.570
part of California's economy.
00:22:52.570 --> 00:22:56.070
It will also enhance our
weapons acquisition process
00:22:56.070 --> 00:22:58.610
by allowing us to
test new doctrines
00:22:58.610 --> 00:23:00.800
in synthetic
environments that are
00:23:00.800 --> 00:23:03.950
populated with intelligent
agents and future threat
00:23:03.950 --> 00:23:05.680
challenges.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.750
- Most people in
America don't realize
00:23:07.750 --> 00:23:12.440
that we're on the
cusp of the inner edge
00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.670
of a revolutionary
advance, that it could only
00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:20.250
be compared with Gutenberg's
invention of movable type,
00:23:20.250 --> 00:23:23.030
and the emergence of
television itself.
00:23:23.030 --> 00:23:26.530
We are in the
binary number world,
00:23:26.530 --> 00:23:29.010
the world of virtual
reality, which
00:23:29.010 --> 00:23:31.000
is going to be
part of the embrace
00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:34.490
of this great new
cooperative venture.
00:23:34.490 --> 00:23:35.560
- Yes, sir?
00:23:35.560 --> 00:23:37.552
- James Der Derian
from Wired magazine.
00:23:37.552 --> 00:23:39.260
Is there any sort of
check and balance --
00:23:39.260 --> 00:23:42.480
an ethical check and balance
-- that when you pair together
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:46.420
the power of Hollywood with
the power of technology,
00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.450
that we won't have something
like Wag The Dog down a line
00:23:49.450 --> 00:23:51.468
coming out of the USC center?
00:23:51.468 --> 00:23:52.962
(LAUGHTER)
00:23:52.962 --> 00:23:54.954
- As Jack is coming up
to respond to that...
00:23:54.954 --> 00:23:57.444
(LAUGHTER)
00:23:59.450 --> 00:24:00.970
- I... let me just
pick one comment.
00:24:00.970 --> 00:24:06.630
This ability to simulate
began in Greek theater.
00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:09.130
And one of the points
that Plato, Socrates makes
00:24:09.130 --> 00:24:11.960
over and over again
is that poets lie.
00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:15.145
Because it was so engaging
and so attractive,
00:24:15.145 --> 00:24:18.530
that it sometimes led people
astray from the truth.
00:24:18.530 --> 00:24:21.100
That's been true with
almost every sort
00:24:21.100 --> 00:24:23.080
of entertainment
medium ever developed
00:24:23.080 --> 00:24:24.640
on the face of the Earth.
00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:26.930
Now with that as a prelude...
00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:31.880
- I want to illuminate for
you a central truth that
00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:35.470
is existed today, and
the gentleman worried
00:24:35.470 --> 00:24:38.010
about Wag The Dog taking place.
00:24:38.010 --> 00:24:40.710
I think that what
will come out of this
00:24:40.710 --> 00:24:45.370
is a kind of a new
heightening of the superb
00:24:45.370 --> 00:24:47.700
efficiency of the fighting
men of this country.
00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:52.686
The digital era is on us, and
the era of virtual reality.
00:24:52.686 --> 00:24:56.510
It's going to reshape and
revise, in a radical way,
00:24:56.510 --> 00:24:59.670
the way information and
entertainment's being conveyed
00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:05.850
to us, and how you can use
it for urban planning as well
00:25:05.850 --> 00:25:08.150
as war planning.
00:25:08.150 --> 00:25:09.060
This is the future.
00:25:09.060 --> 00:25:10.730
Except, what you're
seeing now is
00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:12.160
going to be
primitive to what you
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:13.750
see five, six years from now.
00:25:19.230 --> 00:25:22.080
- Once Silicon Valley,
broadcast TV, and Hollywood film
00:25:22.080 --> 00:25:25.980
were added to the mix, a
much worse threat emerged.
00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:28.370
Where made-for-TV wars
and Hollywood movies
00:25:28.370 --> 00:25:32.310
blur, military war games and
computer video games blend,
00:25:32.310 --> 00:25:34.270
mock disasters
and real accidents
00:25:34.270 --> 00:25:37.420
collide producing on
screen a new configuration
00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:39.060
of virtual power.
00:25:39.060 --> 00:25:41.910
Using computer simulations,
media dissimulations,
00:25:41.910 --> 00:25:44.636
global surveillance, and
network centric warfare,
00:25:44.636 --> 00:25:48.094
it deters, disciplines, and
if need be destroys the enemy
00:25:48.094 --> 00:25:48.760
from a distance.
00:25:52.360 --> 00:25:55.520
- With a 200 year history
of Industrial Age warfare,
00:25:55.520 --> 00:25:59.280
we now have the
opportunity to ask
00:25:59.280 --> 00:26:03.130
ourselves questions from an
Information Age perspective.
00:26:03.130 --> 00:26:11.170
If there were infinite speed
of technology proliferation,
00:26:11.170 --> 00:26:17.140
and infinite speed of
information proliferation,
00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:19.283
what kind of
attributes would I have
00:26:19.283 --> 00:26:23.226
to have to maintain a
competitive advantage?
00:26:23.226 --> 00:26:25.925
I do believe that, to a
certain considerable extent,
00:26:25.925 --> 00:26:29.220
the nation makes war
the way it makes wealth.
00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:33.051
And you're seeing a
restructuring of society
00:26:33.051 --> 00:26:34.980
with the Information Age.
00:26:34.980 --> 00:26:38.160
Part of the overhang
of the Industrial Age
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:43.530
is to highly
integrate and optimize
00:26:43.530 --> 00:26:45.390
systems and subsystems.
00:26:45.390 --> 00:26:51.061
And in that, you create striking
systemic vulnerabilities.
00:26:51.061 --> 00:26:53.160
And you need an
organizing principle
00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:55.990
which is capable of
accommodating those.
00:26:55.990 --> 00:27:01.122
Network centric warfare is
such an organizing principle.
00:27:01.122 --> 00:27:04.040
There's an acceleration.
00:27:04.040 --> 00:27:08.220
And we should expect to
see that the acceleration
00:27:08.220 --> 00:27:13.440
in the adoption of
revolutionary concepts --
00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:17.410
we may in fact go
somewhat faster.
00:27:17.410 --> 00:27:19.670
But it's not clear.
00:27:19.670 --> 00:27:22.750
We may have not yet
reached the point
00:27:22.750 --> 00:27:26.460
where you've got the
profound acceleration.
00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:34.730
We may be lacking the catalyst
to that profound acceleration.
00:27:34.730 --> 00:27:36.560
But it will come.
00:27:36.560 --> 00:27:38.212
I think there's little doubt.
00:27:43.080 --> 00:27:45.782
- What about remote warfare?
00:27:45.782 --> 00:27:48.970
You know, fighting air wars
without the risk of losing
00:27:48.970 --> 00:27:50.930
pilots, using just
precision missiles...
00:27:50.930 --> 00:27:51.710
- Sure.
00:27:51.710 --> 00:27:52.210
Go ahead.
00:27:52.210 --> 00:27:52.710
Let's do it.
00:27:55.620 --> 00:27:56.680
- The downside...?
00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:59.840
- The downside is A, you
can't see what you're doing.
00:27:59.840 --> 00:28:01.702
B, you can't adjust as flexibly.
00:28:01.702 --> 00:28:03.160
Even though it
looks like it should
00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:06.810
be very easy to set up these
unmanned aircraft flying out
00:28:06.810 --> 00:28:07.404
there.
00:28:07.404 --> 00:28:09.320
"Why sir, you can put a
sensor suite on there.
00:28:09.320 --> 00:28:11.240
Listen, these things
are so good, they...
00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:15.540
I mean, you can buzz
that target at 15 Gs.
00:28:15.540 --> 00:28:17.980
You'll have your TV
camera in the back.
00:28:17.980 --> 00:28:19.590
It'll be phenomenal."
00:28:19.590 --> 00:28:22.860
Meanwhile, you got some
guy on the ground saying,
00:28:22.860 --> 00:28:25.780
"I can't follow this."
00:28:25.780 --> 00:28:28.070
It's like what we're
doing in Northern Iraq.
00:28:28.070 --> 00:28:29.550
Just flying aircraft
over, saying
00:28:29.550 --> 00:28:31.310
"Is anybody alive down there?
00:28:31.310 --> 00:28:33.492
Anybody at home?"
00:29:42.540 --> 00:29:45.450
- You asked about
science fiction.
00:29:45.450 --> 00:29:49.575
This is what I think is
the worst case scenario.
00:29:52.440 --> 00:29:56.810
We have a major
year 2000 problem.
00:29:56.810 --> 00:29:58.630
Not necessarily
major technically,
00:29:58.630 --> 00:30:00.809
but it may be major
in the way society
00:30:00.809 --> 00:30:01.850
chooses to respond to it.
00:30:08.760 --> 00:30:14.796
And it cascades, by virtue of
the increased globalization
00:30:14.796 --> 00:30:16.510
that we have.
00:30:16.510 --> 00:30:19.148
It cascades.
00:30:19.148 --> 00:30:22.214
And someone says, and
increasingly people
00:30:22.214 --> 00:30:26.705
say, "Fix this."
00:30:26.705 --> 00:30:31.560
Because we now have so
much of our quality of life
00:30:31.560 --> 00:30:37.692
depends on these things.
00:30:37.692 --> 00:30:41.750
And someone says,
"We can fix this.
00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:44.780
This can be fixed.
00:30:44.780 --> 00:30:47.100
There are, however,
some conventions
00:30:47.100 --> 00:30:51.000
that we have to
suspend in order to be
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:58.698
able to do that, certain
elements of privacy rights."
00:30:58.698 --> 00:31:03.060
And pretty soon, we're
talking about things
00:31:03.060 --> 00:31:05.600
that today would bother
a whole lot of people
00:31:05.600 --> 00:31:09.750
because they seem to attack some
fundamentals in rule of law,
00:31:09.750 --> 00:31:10.905
even.
00:31:10.905 --> 00:31:12.830
- Posse Comitatus?
00:31:12.830 --> 00:31:14.245
- Yes.
00:31:14.245 --> 00:31:14.744
Yes.
00:31:17.950 --> 00:31:23.480
And the people say,
'Well, I can accept that.
00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:27.120
I can accept that to
reestablish the order
00:31:27.120 --> 00:31:31.670
in my quality of life."
00:31:31.670 --> 00:31:34.000
I think that's a
Doomsday scenario.
00:31:42.550 --> 00:31:45.300
- Before 9/11 and
after 9/11, it's
00:31:45.300 --> 00:31:48.400
as if whole histories, critical
questions, and future hopes
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:51.500
disappeared into
this temporal rift.
00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:57.020
Lost in between was a credible
story of what happened and why.
00:31:57.020 --> 00:31:58.750
Earlier administrations,
including
00:31:58.750 --> 00:32:02.230
Clinton's, operationalized the
revolution in military affairs.
00:32:02.230 --> 00:32:03.940
They promoted a
vision of bloodless,
00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:07.360
humanitarian, hygienic wars.
00:32:07.360 --> 00:32:12.700
Post 9/11, Bush's inner circle
radically upped the ante.
00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:15.600
After a remote aerial war
fought by Predator drones
00:32:15.600 --> 00:32:17.340
in Afghanistan,
breathless reports
00:32:17.340 --> 00:32:20.140
by journalists traversing
the deserts with the troops,
00:32:20.140 --> 00:32:23.546
and Defense Department briefings
of shock and awe over Baghdad,
00:32:23.546 --> 00:32:25.295
color commentary and
the shades of opinion
00:32:25.295 --> 00:32:26.980
were reduced to the
night-scope green
00:32:26.980 --> 00:32:29.330
of videophone
verite in the desert
00:32:29.330 --> 00:32:31.439
and red, white and
blue in the studios.
00:32:31.439 --> 00:32:31.980
- Let him go.
00:32:31.980 --> 00:32:33.380
He came to get help.
00:32:35.683 --> 00:32:37.766
- So it doesn't have to
end badly, in other words?
00:32:37.766 --> 00:32:39.495
- No, it doesn't
have to end badly.
00:32:39.495 --> 00:32:41.494
And that's what we're
trying to get them to see.
00:32:41.494 --> 00:32:44.226
There's alternate means
besides just lighting them up.
00:32:44.226 --> 00:32:46.721
(GUNSHOTS)
00:32:47.719 --> 00:32:49.216
- They took it as
hostile intent.
00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:54.610
- It killed nine people.
00:32:54.610 --> 00:32:59.140
There was a couple innocent
bystanders that were killed.
00:32:59.140 --> 00:33:00.930
That might start a protest.
00:33:00.930 --> 00:33:03.857
Now, you've just changed the
whole direction of the camp.
00:33:05.845 --> 00:33:07.833
We're going to a danger zone.
00:33:07.833 --> 00:33:09.766
We're going to a war zone.
00:33:09.766 --> 00:33:12.057
And I don't think they're
going to be too friendly when
00:33:12.057 --> 00:33:14.294
we get there.
00:33:14.294 --> 00:33:16.779
We're America's 911 force.
00:33:16.779 --> 00:33:19.264
We go where they want us to go.
00:33:22.743 --> 00:33:25.150
- A fearful symmetry
was also at work
00:33:25.150 --> 00:33:28.560
at an unconscious,
possibly pathological level
00:33:28.560 --> 00:33:32.410
a war of escalating, competing,
and imitative oppositions.
00:33:32.410 --> 00:33:33.958
A mimetic war of images.
00:33:57.540 --> 00:33:59.120
My travels in
virtuality ended where
00:33:59.120 --> 00:34:03.710
they began over a decade ago, in
the sands of the Mojave Desert.
00:34:03.710 --> 00:34:05.300
The revolution in
military affairs
00:34:05.300 --> 00:34:07.570
had met its bitter end in
the streets of Fallujah
00:34:07.570 --> 00:34:10.060
and elsewhere in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
00:34:10.060 --> 00:34:14.050
Now it was a counterinsurgency,
an occupation.
00:34:14.050 --> 00:34:15.719
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
00:34:16.915 --> 00:34:17.540
- Good morning.
00:34:17.540 --> 00:34:19.830
Welcome to 1st
Battalion, 25th Marines.
00:34:19.830 --> 00:34:27.540
- We're in a different war than
Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003.
00:34:27.540 --> 00:34:30.130
- How do they tell
friends from enemies?
00:34:30.130 --> 00:34:32.719
- Sometimes it's very
difficult. And the marines have
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:35.320
to be able to basically
ratchet it down, if you will,
00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:36.949
to deal with civilians.
00:34:36.949 --> 00:34:38.699
And then ratchet
it back up, realize
00:34:38.699 --> 00:34:41.370
there's always a bad guy lurking
in the background somewhere.
00:34:47.474 --> 00:34:48.265
- We need security!
00:34:51.193 --> 00:34:53.145
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
00:34:56.073 --> 00:34:58.513
(GUNSHOTS)
00:34:58.513 --> 00:35:02.025
- We have a total of, I
think, 50 titans that are
00:35:02.025 --> 00:35:02.650
Iraqi-American.
00:35:06.414 --> 00:35:08.080
- Do you know what's
going on right now?
00:35:08.080 --> 00:35:11.012
- Uh, casualty procedures.
00:35:11.012 --> 00:35:11.970
- An IED just went off?
00:35:14.772 --> 00:35:15.760
- Report an ambush.
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.813
Two commanders down ...
00:35:17.813 --> 00:35:19.745
deal with the ambush.
00:35:19.745 --> 00:35:22.259
Everybody understand
why we did that?
00:35:22.259 --> 00:35:24.092
We're gonna talk about
continuous actions --
00:35:24.092 --> 00:35:25.640
my favorite.
00:35:25.640 --> 00:35:27.473
It's all about moving
towards the objective.
00:35:27.473 --> 00:35:28.922
Can't get too fancy out here.
00:35:28.922 --> 00:35:30.320
We're talking about
dispersion of speeds.
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:32.040
Formation, the main one
we're going to focus on here
00:35:32.040 --> 00:35:33.718
is the 360 inside the building.
00:35:33.718 --> 00:35:34.218
All right.
00:35:34.218 --> 00:35:36.057
I wish you all the best of luck.
00:35:36.057 --> 00:35:37.140
Take care of your Marines.
00:35:37.140 --> 00:35:39.431
Don't let them get complacent,
and stay on top of them.
00:35:39.431 --> 00:35:40.005
Good luck.
00:35:40.005 --> 00:35:40.505
Good luck.
00:35:40.505 --> 00:35:40.996
- Appreciate it.
00:35:40.996 --> 00:35:41.496
- Good luck.
00:36:03.590 --> 00:36:06.150
- Today, I can say
that our troops in Iraq
00:36:06.150 --> 00:36:11.800
will definitely be
home for the holidays.
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:15.400
This December will be a time
to reflect on all that we've
00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:17.219
been through in this war.
00:36:17.219 --> 00:36:18.844
- We were told it
would be a quick war,
00:36:18.844 --> 00:36:21.796
and that we would be
greeted as liberators.
00:36:21.796 --> 00:36:25.240
- We frequently use the
military instruments of power
00:36:25.240 --> 00:36:26.716
as the default instrument.
00:36:26.716 --> 00:36:29.390
We're not very good at using
the other instruments of policy.
00:36:29.390 --> 00:36:31.732
- We are still living
in a state of war.
00:36:31.732 --> 00:36:34.190
This is the longest period that
the United States has lived
00:36:34.190 --> 00:36:38.286
in such a situation --
longer than the Civil War,
00:36:38.286 --> 00:36:39.750
World War I, or World War II.
00:36:55.050 --> 00:36:56.600
- War is a complex phenomenon.
00:36:56.600 --> 00:36:58.230
It's a realm of accidents.
00:36:58.230 --> 00:37:00.740
If something can go
wrong, it will go wrong.
00:37:00.740 --> 00:37:03.500
It should always be the last
resort, instead of the first.
00:37:03.500 --> 00:37:05.201
All of the hopes at
the end of the Cold
00:37:05.201 --> 00:37:07.388
War, what happened to them?
00:37:07.388 --> 00:37:10.790
If we don't learn, it
could be the last word.
00:37:10.790 --> 00:37:12.960
After going through
decades of footage,
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:15.561
there was still one tape left
that we couldn't figure out
00:37:15.561 --> 00:37:16.060
at all.
00:37:20.530 --> 00:37:22.480
- This is the worst
worst case scenario.
00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:26.430
This cascading events and the
negative synergy of networks
00:37:26.430 --> 00:37:28.746
means that this stuff
can ripple through.
00:37:28.746 --> 00:37:30.726
We've seen it in the
financial markets,
00:37:30.726 --> 00:37:32.225
we've seen it in
political networks.
00:37:32.225 --> 00:37:32.967
It happens fast.
00:37:32.967 --> 00:37:34.560
And it's not predictable.
00:37:36.740 --> 00:37:39.562
- Regimes similar to Ben Ali's
will be watching very closely.
00:37:39.562 --> 00:37:41.311
- These boundaries,
as you well know Wolf,
00:37:41.311 --> 00:37:43.746
were drawn by the British
and French after World War I.
00:37:43.746 --> 00:37:48.320
So the whole state system of the
Middle East is coming unglued.
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.680
- Stability has
left the building.
00:37:50.680 --> 00:37:55.070
From 9/11 to 11/9, to 2/11,
this desire for stability
00:37:55.070 --> 00:37:57.390
increases the volatility.
00:37:57.390 --> 00:38:00.974
It suppresses one of the
most transformative forces
00:38:00.974 --> 00:38:03.070
until they reach
a boiling point.
00:38:03.070 --> 00:38:04.420
Until they erupt.
00:38:04.420 --> 00:38:07.192
- There are worries that the
unrest is going to spread.
00:38:07.192 --> 00:38:09.650
And that certainly has negative
implications for the world.
00:38:09.650 --> 00:38:10.865
- And that does lead
to that next question.
00:38:10.865 --> 00:38:11.656
Is this contagious?
00:38:11.656 --> 00:38:13.034
And where could it go next?
00:38:13.034 --> 00:38:15.584
- We have the contagion with
the sovereign debt issue.
00:38:15.584 --> 00:38:17.962
Now we're having a contagion
issue with the North Africa
00:38:17.962 --> 00:38:18.462
countries.
00:38:18.462 --> 00:38:19.240
- What's plan B?
00:38:19.240 --> 00:38:20.734
- What is plan B?
00:38:20.734 --> 00:38:21.728
- That's right.
00:38:21.728 --> 00:38:22.228
- Pray.
00:38:25.216 --> 00:38:27.706
- If people don't pay
attention, don't wake up,
00:38:27.706 --> 00:38:30.196
that's when the zombies come.
00:38:30.196 --> 00:38:31.192
This is what happens.
00:39:07.080 --> 00:39:08.970
- It was the victory
of the United States
00:39:08.970 --> 00:39:13.330
over the Soviet Union,
NATO over the Warsaw Pact,
00:39:13.330 --> 00:39:14.990
democracy over communism.
00:39:14.990 --> 00:39:16.990
We can use all these things.
00:39:16.990 --> 00:39:22.890
But the most important in these
things, not the celebration,
00:39:22.890 --> 00:39:24.790
but lessons.
00:39:24.790 --> 00:39:27.310
- In the wake of
the Cold War, there
00:39:27.310 --> 00:39:32.060
was a belief that a whole
set of global problems
00:39:32.060 --> 00:39:35.820
were now amenable to resolution.
00:39:35.820 --> 00:39:39.240
It was believed, correctly, that
the Cold War had exacerbated
00:39:39.240 --> 00:39:40.980
a lot of regional conflicts.
00:39:40.980 --> 00:39:42.880
This was a time of
enormous optimism.
00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:45.170
President Bush --
this is the father --
00:39:45.170 --> 00:39:46.920
talked about a new world order.
00:39:46.920 --> 00:39:51.140
- A world where the rule of
law, not the law of the jungle,
00:39:51.140 --> 00:39:54.150
governs the conduct of nations.
00:39:54.150 --> 00:39:56.190
When we are successful,
and we will be,
00:39:56.190 --> 00:39:57.190
we have a real chance...
00:39:57.190 --> 00:39:59.770
- There was a sense that
this was the end of history.
00:39:59.770 --> 00:40:03.010
But the Cold War left
behind a whole set
00:40:03.010 --> 00:40:07.970
of explosive, dangerous
problems which we're still
00:40:07.970 --> 00:40:09.760
wrestling with to this day.
00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:14.060
- Cold War was not only
about the confrontation
00:40:14.060 --> 00:40:15.830
between democracy and communism.
00:40:15.830 --> 00:40:19.760
It was also confrontation
between two superpowers.
00:40:19.760 --> 00:40:22.010
And one superpower disappeared.
00:40:22.010 --> 00:40:27.690
So it was no real
enemy, so you have
00:40:27.690 --> 00:40:31.520
to change your
understanding of the world.
00:40:31.520 --> 00:40:33.370
But it is very
difficult because it
00:40:33.370 --> 00:40:35.930
was stable rules
of the Cold War,
00:40:35.930 --> 00:40:37.940
you're making your
military build up.
00:40:37.940 --> 00:40:40.460
You know who is your enemy.
00:40:40.460 --> 00:40:44.790
You're more or less sure this
enemy will not attack you,
00:40:44.790 --> 00:40:47.460
and the enemy know that
you will not attack them.
00:40:47.460 --> 00:40:49.100
But you have to be ready.
00:40:49.100 --> 00:40:56.040
And you're able to control your
own people around this idea.
00:40:56.040 --> 00:40:59.740
And then when this
adversary disappeared,
00:40:59.740 --> 00:41:01.120
you're looking like stray.
00:41:01.120 --> 00:41:02.420
You're lost.
00:41:02.420 --> 00:41:06.000
- Suddenly, with the
thawing of the Cold War,
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:09.840
any global enemy had vanished.
00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:13.650
And we know that
as early as 1997,
00:41:13.650 --> 00:41:16.050
many elements in the
neocon establishment
00:41:16.050 --> 00:41:17.600
were wanting to invade Iraq.
00:41:17.600 --> 00:41:21.490
But there was no rationale with
which to sell such an invasion
00:41:21.490 --> 00:41:23.280
to the US public.
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.650
- It was not only in
the United States.
00:41:26.650 --> 00:41:29.560
It was all over the world,
including the former Soviet
00:41:29.560 --> 00:41:31.110
Union and Russia.
00:41:31.110 --> 00:41:34.555
You're looking for the new
enemy whom you will fight.
00:41:34.555 --> 00:41:37.700
And you are not thinking
that the world changed.
00:41:37.700 --> 00:41:40.950
- The biggest problem
that... during the Cold War,
00:41:40.950 --> 00:41:45.800
we rely on our military
strengths on the both sides,
00:41:45.800 --> 00:41:49.140
thinking, if we're stronger,
then we will be more
00:41:49.140 --> 00:41:51.080
victorious.
00:41:51.080 --> 00:41:54.340
Spending resources
for some weapons
00:41:54.340 --> 00:41:56.210
that you don't know how to use.
00:41:56.210 --> 00:41:59.550
At the end of the Cold
War, it is simple example.
00:41:59.550 --> 00:42:03.440
Soviet Union built 50,000 tanks.
00:42:03.440 --> 00:42:04.780
So what happened?
00:42:04.780 --> 00:42:09.090
Now they rusted, these tanks,
in the swamps of Siberia.
00:42:09.090 --> 00:42:12.450
- We now have a new era, which
we call the "war on terror."
00:42:12.450 --> 00:42:15.149
But as in the Cold
War, we are once again
00:42:15.149 --> 00:42:17.190
in the business of
intervening in the third world
00:42:17.190 --> 00:42:20.600
to establish client states
who will do our bidding.
00:42:20.600 --> 00:42:24.190
And a major part of establishing
these client states who are
00:42:24.190 --> 00:42:26.690
aligned with our interests --
not the interests of their own
00:42:26.690 --> 00:42:30.090
populations -- is to make
sure they have robust security
00:42:30.090 --> 00:42:33.650
forces for counter insurgency,
for putting down resistance
00:42:33.650 --> 00:42:34.570
to the state.
00:42:34.570 --> 00:42:38.440
And this is, of course, the
classic mode of US intervention
00:42:38.440 --> 00:42:40.764
in the third world
during the Cold War.
00:42:40.764 --> 00:42:42.930
We've recreated that world,
we've only done it under
00:42:42.930 --> 00:42:45.346
a different frame -- this frame
being the frame of the war
00:42:45.346 --> 00:42:48.580
on terror, rather than
the war against communism.
00:42:48.580 --> 00:42:51.270
- Part of the blowback, as
it were, of the covert war
00:42:51.270 --> 00:42:53.580
that the United States fought
against the Soviet Union
00:42:53.580 --> 00:42:56.350
in the last phase
of the Cold War
00:42:56.350 --> 00:42:59.690
was the creation of these
monsters, who continue
00:42:59.690 --> 00:43:00.855
to haunt us to this day.
00:43:00.855 --> 00:43:02.480
The United States is
basically fighting
00:43:02.480 --> 00:43:05.520
a war against the
remnants in Afghanistan
00:43:05.520 --> 00:43:09.260
of the very forces that the
United States itself funded,
00:43:09.260 --> 00:43:12.590
supported, armed, trained,
and in some cases, created.
00:43:12.590 --> 00:43:14.880
So Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
and his group,
00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:19.920
the Haqqani network, and other
elements of the Taliban regime
00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:22.280
are, in fact, groups that
the United States supported
00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:25.100
for many, many years
during the Jihad
00:43:25.100 --> 00:43:27.010
against the Soviet occupation.
00:43:27.010 --> 00:43:29.490
They didn't come out of nowhere.
00:43:29.490 --> 00:43:33.020
These are the ghosts
of the Cold War.
00:43:33.020 --> 00:43:36.010
- Whether it's Afghanistan
and Pakistan, to Darfur,
00:43:36.010 --> 00:43:37.850
to Palestine, all
of these countries
00:43:37.850 --> 00:43:39.260
are overlaid with
different kinds
00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:41.750
of historical interventions.
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:43.890
It is impossible to
understand Afghanistan
00:43:43.890 --> 00:43:45.510
or the violence in
Afghanistan today
00:43:45.510 --> 00:43:48.550
without understanding the role
of the United States, of Iran,
00:43:48.550 --> 00:43:49.900
of the Soviet Union.
00:43:49.900 --> 00:43:52.240
Or, similarly, of
Pakistan putting money
00:43:52.240 --> 00:43:54.160
into the military, the
particular alliances
00:43:54.160 --> 00:43:57.450
that the Pakistani elite
made during all those decades
00:43:57.450 --> 00:43:58.550
of the Cold War.
00:43:58.550 --> 00:44:00.380
So, many problems
that we now see
00:44:00.380 --> 00:44:02.926
as being within national borders
are across national borders,
00:44:02.926 --> 00:44:04.675
across territorial,
are regional problems.
00:44:06.930 --> 00:44:09.450
- One of the biggest
shifts that happened
00:44:09.450 --> 00:44:11.550
after the end of
the Cold War was
00:44:11.550 --> 00:44:17.090
that the self/other dynamic that
was at the heart of the Cold
00:44:17.090 --> 00:44:19.280
War, then disappeared.
00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:22.280
And in the 1990s, perhaps
particularly in Europe,
00:44:22.280 --> 00:44:26.942
you saw the sort of first sense
that it could be different,
00:44:26.942 --> 00:44:28.650
that you could actually
have a world that
00:44:28.650 --> 00:44:32.160
would be fundamentally
different in terms of security,
00:44:32.160 --> 00:44:35.560
perhaps the end of security.
00:44:35.560 --> 00:44:38.740
Then you have the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait,
00:44:38.740 --> 00:44:41.480
and you have the
first Gulf War in '91.
00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:43.750
But also, I think,
significantly in Europe,
00:44:43.750 --> 00:44:47.950
you had the wars in the Balkans,
and reaching back to a concept
00:44:47.950 --> 00:44:49.540
of the Balkans --
and particularly,
00:44:49.540 --> 00:44:54.970
a Balkanization that comes
into Western vocabulary
00:44:54.970 --> 00:44:59.890
in the 1920s, in the wake of
World War I. So in that sense,
00:44:59.890 --> 00:45:03.000
you get a more complex
political terrain for the West
00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:04.440
to maneuver in.
00:45:04.440 --> 00:45:09.000
The big question then becomes,
after 9/11, what do we see?
00:45:14.250 --> 00:45:18.620
- The end of the Cold War and
the attacks of September 11
00:45:18.620 --> 00:45:22.520
mark the dawn of another new
era in international relations,
00:45:22.520 --> 00:45:26.010
an era whose challenges may
be unprecedented in complexity
00:45:26.010 --> 00:45:28.210
and scope.
00:45:28.210 --> 00:45:31.807
In important respects, the great
struggles of the 20th century
00:45:31.807 --> 00:45:35.680
-- World War I, World War
II, and the Cold War --
00:45:35.680 --> 00:45:39.590
covered over conflicts that had
boiled and seethed and provoked
00:45:39.590 --> 00:45:41.620
war and instability.
00:45:41.620 --> 00:45:45.360
These old hatreds and
conflicts were buried alive
00:45:45.360 --> 00:45:48.030
during and after the Great War.
00:45:48.030 --> 00:45:50.090
But like monsters
in science fiction,
00:45:50.090 --> 00:45:51.645
they have returned
from the grave
00:45:51.645 --> 00:45:55.480
to threaten peace and
stability around the world.
00:45:55.480 --> 00:45:58.560
So history was not dead at
the end of the Cold War.
00:45:58.560 --> 00:46:01.930
Instead, it was reawakening
with a vengeance.
00:46:01.930 --> 00:46:04.040
And the revived
monsters of the past
00:46:04.040 --> 00:46:07.330
have returned far stronger and
more dangerous than before.
00:46:13.566 --> 00:46:16.190
- It's all of a sudden, we just
jumped out of the mental model.
00:46:16.190 --> 00:46:20.200
There was no mental
model to deal with this.
00:46:20.200 --> 00:46:24.700
- They're coming quicker, and
they're bundling together.
00:46:24.700 --> 00:46:28.445
So it's both more
overwhelming, and we
00:46:28.445 --> 00:46:30.887
have less time to react to it.
00:46:30.887 --> 00:46:33.220
- There's a disjunction here
-- not only of the material
00:46:33.220 --> 00:46:36.302
culture and language, but
a disjunction in time.
00:46:36.302 --> 00:46:38.180
This is going back
to the 11th century.
00:46:38.180 --> 00:46:41.390
Or is it, in fact, some super
postmodern vision of the world?
00:46:41.390 --> 00:46:44.280
- It was a sense we did
not know who the enemy was.
00:46:44.280 --> 00:46:45.840
But it was out there somewhere.
00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:48.121
- When I went over
there, it was like...
00:46:48.121 --> 00:46:49.662
you know, it's not
like you just went
00:46:49.662 --> 00:46:51.155
to another part of the Earth.
00:46:51.155 --> 00:46:54.710
I thought, like, in some ways
I was going to another planet.
00:46:54.710 --> 00:46:55.989
And it was really weird.
00:46:55.989 --> 00:46:57.280
- These are not wars to be won.
00:46:57.280 --> 00:46:58.450
They got no state lines.
00:46:58.450 --> 00:46:59.830
They got no state agents.
00:46:59.830 --> 00:47:02.205
They have no... nobody
to make a treaty with.
00:47:02.205 --> 00:47:05.660
- War will not
resolve this problem.
00:47:05.660 --> 00:47:08.461
It will make relief
-- temporary relief.
00:47:08.461 --> 00:47:11.430
And then this problem will
grow and grow, grow --
00:47:11.430 --> 00:47:13.910
as happened with
the Berlin Wall.
00:47:13.910 --> 00:47:17.150
And then, maybe, it
will be too late.
00:47:17.150 --> 00:47:20.210
- They are in a
legal no man's land
00:47:20.210 --> 00:47:23.960
within the legal sovereign
territory of the United States.
00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:27.008
- These are people
and institutions
00:47:27.008 --> 00:47:30.830
that somehow exist and don't
exist at the same time.
00:47:30.830 --> 00:47:35.815
So then it's kind of in between
dead, alive, spectral kind
00:47:35.815 --> 00:47:37.165
of zone.
00:47:37.165 --> 00:47:38.714
- And you see it
time and time again.
00:47:38.714 --> 00:47:39.880
"You know, we'll lose a few.
00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:41.020
But that's OK.
00:47:41.020 --> 00:47:42.180
We're OK with that.
00:47:42.180 --> 00:47:44.860
We need to get to
this objective."
00:47:44.860 --> 00:47:47.135
- Things that we would
define in ordinary experience
00:47:47.135 --> 00:47:52.350
as cruel or atrocity
could be made legal.
00:47:52.350 --> 00:47:53.670
- They're free and independent.
00:47:53.670 --> 00:47:56.450
But they're not as free and
independent as other places.
00:47:56.450 --> 00:47:58.830
And we find ways of
justifying interventions
00:47:58.830 --> 00:48:00.294
into those places.
00:48:02.250 --> 00:48:06.470
- They basically operate best
when there is a failed state.
00:48:06.470 --> 00:48:07.910
- They view them as tourists.
00:48:07.910 --> 00:48:10.100
And that's more a
comment on the kind
00:48:10.100 --> 00:48:12.930
of work they feel they're
doing, which isn't very much.
00:48:12.930 --> 00:48:15.340
It says, you know, these are
not political intervention.
00:48:15.340 --> 00:48:16.790
This is not a colonial takeover.
00:48:16.790 --> 00:48:18.710
This is not an act of war.
00:48:18.710 --> 00:48:21.270
- They found themselves
presiding over a very
00:48:21.270 --> 00:48:22.780
far-from-liberal society.
00:48:22.780 --> 00:48:25.250
And effectively, as the
whole thing unraveled,
00:48:25.250 --> 00:48:26.470
presiding over a civil war.
00:48:26.470 --> 00:48:29.305
- All resistance was
militarized, and seen as evil,
00:48:29.305 --> 00:48:31.430
and had to be crushed.
00:48:31.430 --> 00:48:33.330
- Citizens are
presented with signs
00:48:33.330 --> 00:48:35.690
that there is a violent world
out there that has nothing
00:48:35.690 --> 00:48:37.750
to do with American politics.
00:48:37.750 --> 00:48:42.365
- The vast majority of Americans
are just eager to put the war
00:48:42.365 --> 00:48:45.261
in their rear-view mirror,
and forget about it.
00:48:45.261 --> 00:48:46.760
- When I came back
from Afghanistan,
00:48:46.760 --> 00:48:50.110
I was pretty much just left.
00:48:50.110 --> 00:48:50.610
That was it.
00:48:50.610 --> 00:48:51.584
Turn in your weapon.
00:48:51.584 --> 00:48:52.558
And that was it.
00:48:52.558 --> 00:48:53.532
It was over.
00:48:53.532 --> 00:48:55.967
- You cannot sit down,
look at things happening,
00:48:55.967 --> 00:48:58.900
and you don't do
anything about it.
00:48:58.900 --> 00:49:00.630
- So you have a
situation where people
00:49:00.630 --> 00:49:02.090
are, in effect, in limbo.
00:49:02.090 --> 00:49:03.950
They don't control
most important aspects
00:49:03.950 --> 00:49:05.040
of their lives.
00:49:05.040 --> 00:49:06.830
- All of this was not necessary.
00:49:06.830 --> 00:49:09.714
There is no justification
for these acts.
00:49:09.714 --> 00:49:11.642
- You want to fight
terror by killing people?
00:49:11.642 --> 00:49:12.505
That's terror.
00:49:12.505 --> 00:49:14.354
- Sometimes even
they will not know
00:49:14.354 --> 00:49:16.270
whom they have killed,
especially with weapons
00:49:16.270 --> 00:49:17.640
being used from a distance.
00:49:17.640 --> 00:49:20.340
- We only see the buildings.
00:49:20.340 --> 00:49:23.800
But we can't actually perceive
the bodies laying down below.
00:49:23.800 --> 00:49:25.780
- What we're now
concerned with is simply
00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:28.650
reducing the entire country
to a series of targets.
00:49:28.650 --> 00:49:30.880
- It's not that the resistance
is going to go away.
00:49:30.880 --> 00:49:32.862
It will just mutate.
00:49:32.862 --> 00:49:34.820
- I don't think the crisis
is going to go away.
00:49:34.820 --> 00:49:37.410
I think what they've done is
put a lot of sticking plaster
00:49:37.410 --> 00:49:37.993
on the wounds.
00:49:38.949 --> 00:49:40.490
- People are sick
of not having jobs.
00:49:40.490 --> 00:49:42.972
People are sick of being
underpaid and overworked.
00:49:42.972 --> 00:49:44.680
- They're all interlinked,
whether you're
00:49:44.680 --> 00:49:47.490
looking at the Middle East,
or Africa, or Latin America.
00:49:47.490 --> 00:49:49.170
- Just imagine,
they have companies
00:49:49.170 --> 00:49:53.258
going out there and paying
people a dollar a day.
00:49:53.258 --> 00:49:56.400
- It sounded good
at the beginning --
00:49:56.400 --> 00:49:58.910
the idea of getting
free from the rules.
00:49:58.910 --> 00:50:03.100
- There was, for a while, a kind
of privatization of the future.
00:50:03.100 --> 00:50:06.260
- When one privatizes
so much, government
00:50:06.260 --> 00:50:09.180
is unable to function to deal
with the lives of the people.
00:50:09.180 --> 00:50:11.662
- We're just getting to
grips with what we've built.
00:50:11.662 --> 00:50:14.037
And what we've built has become
more concentrated because
00:50:14.037 --> 00:50:15.250
of the financial crisis.
00:50:15.250 --> 00:50:18.250
We've gone from too big to
fail to too big to bail.
00:50:18.250 --> 00:50:20.248
- And so there's a
terrible haunting
00:50:20.248 --> 00:50:24.460
feeling that we brought
a disaster on ourselves.
00:50:24.460 --> 00:50:28.366
- And it seemed to be a kind
of shared hallucination.
00:50:28.366 --> 00:50:30.651
- They want to make it
come out right again.
00:50:30.651 --> 00:50:34.060
But it's a dead bad
idea walking again.
00:50:34.060 --> 00:50:36.160
- We feel that we
are running out
00:50:36.160 --> 00:50:38.955
of time, both ecologically
and economically.
00:50:44.110 --> 00:50:45.610
- It's called "the
endless present."
00:50:45.610 --> 00:50:47.450
The endless present
in a sense is
00:50:47.450 --> 00:50:49.413
a place without past, future.
00:50:49.413 --> 00:50:50.829
The endless present
is a time that
00:50:50.829 --> 00:50:52.980
condenses all times within it.
00:50:52.980 --> 00:50:54.732
- It really wants
to be a kind of life
00:50:54.732 --> 00:50:57.386
where life becomes existence.
00:50:57.386 --> 00:50:59.200
Like, life does
not become livable.
00:50:59.200 --> 00:51:02.360
- And there's a very strong
sense in all of this,
00:51:02.360 --> 00:51:04.610
people become... they're
desperate and dispirited with
00:51:04.610 --> 00:51:05.947
the idea of government.
00:51:05.947 --> 00:51:08.280
- Fear is the most powerful
motivator in world politics.
00:51:08.280 --> 00:51:09.960
So if there's a
fear of the undead,
00:51:09.960 --> 00:51:12.282
there will be overkill in
every sense of the word.
00:51:12.282 --> 00:51:14.637
- We haven't dealt
with such issues.
00:51:14.637 --> 00:51:19.030
And until we deal with
them, we are stuck.
00:51:19.030 --> 00:51:20.680
- Now, not only is
unemployment high
00:51:20.680 --> 00:51:23.920
after the global recession,
food prices are also up.
00:51:23.920 --> 00:51:26.430
High prices and joblessness
equal, well, misery.
00:51:26.430 --> 00:51:30.140
For each of them it doesn't
even tell half the story.
00:51:30.140 --> 00:51:32.840
- Iraq may have become a
low level conflict that
00:51:32.840 --> 00:51:36.670
will continue to claim this
many civilian lives for years
00:51:36.670 --> 00:51:37.170
to come.
00:51:37.170 --> 00:51:39.380
- It's very hard to
see any sort of way
00:51:39.380 --> 00:51:41.660
forward for this country.
00:51:41.660 --> 00:51:43.820
- One woman told us it
feels like martial law here,
00:51:43.820 --> 00:51:46.250
with people bolted inside
their homes after dark.
00:51:46.250 --> 00:51:49.023
- It's like Armageddon
or something.
00:51:49.023 --> 00:51:51.630
They... they just forgot
about us, you know?
00:51:51.630 --> 00:51:52.810
How are we to survive?
00:51:52.810 --> 00:51:55.390
- They're beaten,
they're resigned.
00:51:55.390 --> 00:51:56.100
- OK.
00:51:56.100 --> 00:51:57.909
- Someone said
we're like zombies.
00:51:57.909 --> 00:51:58.950
- Like zombies in Greece.
00:51:58.950 --> 00:52:00.524
- We've just taken too much.
00:52:00.524 --> 00:52:02.690
- Suzanne, thank you for
helping us just sort of put
00:52:02.690 --> 00:52:03.523
that in perspective.
00:52:03.523 --> 00:52:11.340
- The zombie represents a fuzzy
unclarity, where you are not...
00:52:11.340 --> 00:52:17.490
neither going forward, and
since going backwards is not
00:52:17.490 --> 00:52:20.690
possible, then you are stuck.
00:52:20.690 --> 00:52:25.920
And unfortunately, poor
populations in this world,
00:52:25.920 --> 00:52:28.690
we are in that kind of place.
00:52:28.690 --> 00:52:29.990
That's a zombification.
00:52:33.150 --> 00:52:35.540
- So "zombie" here
functions for me something
00:52:35.540 --> 00:52:38.540
like recognizing we're in
a period of interregnum,
00:52:38.540 --> 00:52:40.263
you know, or a
period of transition.
00:52:40.263 --> 00:52:41.652
That the...
00:52:44.817 --> 00:52:46.733
that the past has already
died, and the future
00:52:46.733 --> 00:52:47.700
hasn't been born.
00:52:47.700 --> 00:52:50.050
And that's why the
zombies fill that space.
00:52:50.050 --> 00:52:54.000
- In many ways, the modernist
forms of statecraft have been
00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:54.985
profoundly under...
00:52:54.985 --> 00:52:55.485
undermined.
00:52:55.485 --> 00:52:56.830
Right?
00:52:56.830 --> 00:52:59.810
And the degree to which a
good deal of what used to be
00:52:59.810 --> 00:53:03.180
the business of government
has been outsourced --
00:53:03.180 --> 00:53:06.970
both in terms of bureaucracy,
policing and security,
00:53:06.970 --> 00:53:08.680
even control over the
means of violence,
00:53:08.680 --> 00:53:11.145
sometimes even the
fighting of war.
00:53:11.145 --> 00:53:12.020
- Who are these guys?
00:53:12.020 --> 00:53:14.645
- And there was a strong feeling
there that the society was out
00:53:14.645 --> 00:53:15.540
of control.
00:53:15.540 --> 00:53:19.810
Because there was a specific
policy to cut back on jobs,
00:53:19.810 --> 00:53:23.740
to privatize large areas of...
of the society and economy.
00:53:23.740 --> 00:53:26.210
And that left many, many
more people out of work.
00:53:26.210 --> 00:53:28.440
The degree to which
capital, in many senses,
00:53:28.440 --> 00:53:31.930
now controls the economy
at a level above the scale
00:53:31.930 --> 00:53:34.990
of most nation states,
00:53:34.990 --> 00:53:35.530
this...
00:53:35.530 --> 00:53:37.850
this phenomenon undercuts
the capacity of states
00:53:37.850 --> 00:53:39.960
to govern in many of
the ways that they could
00:53:39.960 --> 00:53:42.060
appear to be governing before.
00:53:42.060 --> 00:53:45.350
So I think in many places,
one has the feeling
00:53:45.350 --> 00:53:47.890
of a disintegrating of order.
00:53:47.890 --> 00:53:50.780
- Next on the show, are we
headed to apocalypse America?
00:53:50.780 --> 00:53:52.488
- The reality is this
debt ceiling crisis
00:53:52.488 --> 00:53:53.737
was a little bit manufactured.
00:53:55.870 --> 00:53:57.440
- The fear's killing us.
00:53:57.440 --> 00:53:59.243
Don't talk yourselves
into recession.
00:53:59.243 --> 00:54:00.630
- Are we cutting fat?
00:54:00.630 --> 00:54:03.250
Or are we cutting growth
with this new austerity
00:54:03.250 --> 00:54:05.022
in Washington?
00:54:05.022 --> 00:54:06.730
- And now there's a
sovereign debt crisis
00:54:06.730 --> 00:54:09.380
following on the banking
crisis, which always happens.
00:54:09.380 --> 00:54:11.864
Why anyone's surprised
by this, I don't know.
00:54:11.864 --> 00:54:13.280
It's not clear
that the sovereigns
00:54:13.280 --> 00:54:15.946
have got any money left, because
they took it from the taxpayers
00:54:15.946 --> 00:54:17.094
to bail out the banks.
00:54:17.094 --> 00:54:18.510
The banks have now
got that money,
00:54:18.510 --> 00:54:20.801
and they're using it to bet
against the sovereigns that
00:54:20.801 --> 00:54:21.766
just saved them.
00:54:21.766 --> 00:54:23.460
How's that for irony?
00:54:23.460 --> 00:54:27.260
- The magical way in which money
could beget money by moving
00:54:27.260 --> 00:54:30.820
things around very quickly,
by taking toxic debt --
00:54:30.820 --> 00:54:33.320
witchcraft-like debt --
and moving it onwards,
00:54:33.320 --> 00:54:34.630
rebundling it.
00:54:34.630 --> 00:54:36.810
And in the very
movement, what you can do
00:54:36.810 --> 00:54:39.610
is to generate wealth, and
keep passing on what were
00:54:39.610 --> 00:54:41.400
the destructive dimensions.
00:54:41.400 --> 00:54:44.130
But some way, somehow,
that would come to rest
00:54:44.130 --> 00:54:46.160
and the whole house of
cards would come down.
00:54:46.160 --> 00:54:47.576
- And a lot of
their customers are
00:54:47.576 --> 00:54:50.930
freaked out, waiting to see
how low the Dow will go.
00:54:50.930 --> 00:54:53.390
Traders saying this is the
craziest day they have ever
00:54:53.390 --> 00:54:54.380
seen in these markets.
00:54:54.380 --> 00:54:57.560
- This is volatility we haven't
seen, of course, since way
00:54:57.560 --> 00:54:58.930
before you and I were born.
00:54:58.930 --> 00:55:03.347
- We are in the midst of a once
in a century credit tsunami.
00:55:03.347 --> 00:55:05.472
- Or people talked about
"zombie debt" -- you know,
00:55:05.472 --> 00:55:08.960
debt that you thought you'd paid
off but somehow was never laid
00:55:08.960 --> 00:55:10.250
to rest.
00:55:10.250 --> 00:55:13.870
- David Cameron isn't the only
Eurozone politician concerned
00:55:13.870 --> 00:55:15.780
about the economic undead.
00:55:15.780 --> 00:55:18.650
Greek Finance Minister George
Papakonstantinou clearly
00:55:18.650 --> 00:55:21.290
has werewolves on
his mind as he warns
00:55:21.290 --> 00:55:24.720
that there's no single silver
bullet that will kill off
00:55:24.720 --> 00:55:26.200
Europe's debt crisis.
00:55:26.200 --> 00:55:28.120
- So this is huge.
00:55:28.120 --> 00:55:30.990
We've built a massive volatility
generator that randomly
00:55:30.990 --> 00:55:34.270
redistributes wealth and income
-- not just in societies,
00:55:34.270 --> 00:55:35.759
but across the globe.
00:55:35.759 --> 00:55:36.800
It's an uncertainty pump.
00:55:36.800 --> 00:55:41.320
It means the system is very
complex, very nonlinear,
00:55:41.320 --> 00:55:42.057
very dynamic.
00:55:42.057 --> 00:55:44.515
And we don't know where it's
going to come to rest, if it's
00:55:44.515 --> 00:55:46.580
going to come to rest at all.
00:55:46.580 --> 00:55:49.860
- We've become a high speed,
high tech, high velocity
00:55:49.860 --> 00:55:51.040
society.
00:55:51.040 --> 00:55:53.430
What's happened is that
there's been a systemic shift.
00:55:53.430 --> 00:55:59.030
We've transited from a
traditional, slower economy
00:55:59.030 --> 00:56:05.760
of boom-bust to one of
bubble-burst that's inherently
00:56:05.760 --> 00:56:07.780
catastrophic in nature.
00:56:07.780 --> 00:56:09.370
- Perception becomes reality.
00:56:09.370 --> 00:56:11.350
You can claim how safe you are.
00:56:11.350 --> 00:56:14.070
If people are spooked,
they'll pull their money out.
00:56:14.070 --> 00:56:15.570
And therefore,
you're then not safe.
00:56:15.570 --> 00:56:18.800
- There are algorithm-powered
robots trading and moving
00:56:18.800 --> 00:56:19.650
the market.
00:56:19.650 --> 00:56:21.140
Some estimates
put their activity
00:56:21.140 --> 00:56:23.970
at 70% of all trading volume.
00:56:23.970 --> 00:56:26.395
- You can't write
a perfect program.
00:56:26.395 --> 00:56:29.080
So even high frequency traders
have a problem setting this up.
00:56:29.080 --> 00:56:29.750
- It obviously broke down.
00:56:29.750 --> 00:56:32.040
- Yeah, the market just dropped
400 points in about 3 minutes.
00:56:32.040 --> 00:56:33.130
- No, the market didn't work.
00:56:33.130 --> 00:56:33.730
It broke down.
00:56:33.730 --> 00:56:34.910
The machines broke down.
00:56:34.910 --> 00:56:35.950
That's what happens.
00:56:35.950 --> 00:56:37.950
- We can see this
maybe best illustrated
00:56:37.950 --> 00:56:41.460
by the flash crash,
where we had algorithms
00:56:41.460 --> 00:56:45.360
being used to conduct trading
in a far more efficient manner.
00:56:45.360 --> 00:56:47.970
All the different groups
were doing it to make money.
00:56:47.970 --> 00:56:51.950
But then they interacted in a
way that we didn't understand.
00:56:51.950 --> 00:56:56.100
And our reaction to it
was, "Well, you know what?
00:56:56.100 --> 00:56:57.292
That day never happened."
00:56:57.292 --> 00:57:00.070
- But do you realize the
fact that after all this,
00:57:00.070 --> 00:57:01.560
that that could
have just happened
00:57:01.560 --> 00:57:04.057
is an absolutely
stupendous story.
00:57:04.057 --> 00:57:04.640
- Well, it is!
00:57:04.640 --> 00:57:04.720
- It is!
00:57:04.720 --> 00:57:06.000
- I think it's a great story.
00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:07.140
It's the greatest
story never told.
00:57:07.140 --> 00:57:08.723
You'll never know
what happened there.
00:57:08.723 --> 00:57:12.880
- So what I'm simply putting
is that it's easier to operate,
00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:15.380
but it's harder for us
humans to understand
00:57:15.380 --> 00:57:16.961
what will happen next.
00:57:16.961 --> 00:57:18.835
- And the CDS markets
are different than they
00:57:18.835 --> 00:57:20.460
were in 2008, thank god.
00:57:20.460 --> 00:57:22.146
Unfortunately,
still not regulated.
00:57:22.146 --> 00:57:23.770
And that's the other
crime of all this.
00:57:23.770 --> 00:57:26.980
- In terms of the loss
of incomes and outputs,
00:57:26.980 --> 00:57:30.210
this is as bad as a World War.
00:57:30.210 --> 00:57:32.227
That's the scale
we're talking about.
00:57:32.227 --> 00:57:34.810
- What happens is this negative
feedback loop from hell, where
00:57:34.810 --> 00:57:37.170
you have lower taxes,
you have to cut more
00:57:37.170 --> 00:57:38.240
into social services.
00:57:38.240 --> 00:57:41.015
And it's a very
difficult cycle to break.
00:57:41.015 --> 00:57:45.010
- 1% of the American
population have
00:57:45.010 --> 00:57:49.860
2/3 of the national wealth.
00:57:49.860 --> 00:57:58.180
This is the long run result of
the new liberal deregulation.
00:57:58.180 --> 00:58:00.950
It sounded good
at the beginning.
00:58:00.950 --> 00:58:07.030
But the new rule is the rule
of impoverishment of society.
00:58:07.030 --> 00:58:09.700
- The zombie spoke
to what was happening
00:58:09.700 --> 00:58:12.270
to a whole category of
worker who is, in a sense,
00:58:12.270 --> 00:58:15.110
being eviscerated by
the conditions that
00:58:15.110 --> 00:58:18.020
existed, and was like a
member of the walking dead.
00:58:18.020 --> 00:58:21.140
But now it was specifically
linked to the ability
00:58:21.140 --> 00:58:24.690
to take over whole people, and
reduce them only to workers.
00:58:24.690 --> 00:58:29.310
And keep them like things in
cupboards, under floor boards,
00:58:29.310 --> 00:58:32.510
and to be able to suck them dry
for these new forms of wealth.
00:58:32.510 --> 00:58:36.090
That image seemed to speak
to things going on elsewhere,
00:58:36.090 --> 00:58:39.240
where people were saying things
like, "How can you have growth
00:58:39.240 --> 00:58:40.190
without work?
00:58:40.190 --> 00:58:42.125
How can they talk
to us about the fact
00:58:42.125 --> 00:58:44.670
that we must be patient
in this new economy?"
00:58:44.670 --> 00:58:46.700
Because right now what
we're seeing is something
00:58:46.700 --> 00:58:48.600
we call "jobless growth."
00:58:48.600 --> 00:58:50.670
So that was another
kind of feature
00:58:50.670 --> 00:58:54.510
of this moment that suggested
that all was not well.
00:58:57.040 --> 00:58:59.040
- In some ways, zombies
are the perfect metaphor
00:58:59.040 --> 00:59:00.248
for the global war on terror.
00:59:00.248 --> 00:59:03.240
I mean, Dick Cheney talked
about the 1% solution.
00:59:03.240 --> 00:59:05.987
Which is... is that if there was
even a 1% chance that al-Qaeda
00:59:05.987 --> 00:59:08.570
would launch an attack, the US
would have to launch aggressive
00:59:08.570 --> 00:59:09.190
counter measures.
00:59:09.190 --> 00:59:11.273
Well, if you extrapolate
that to the zombie thing,
00:59:11.273 --> 00:59:15.030
even if there's only a 0.001%
chance that the undead would
00:59:15.030 --> 00:59:16.790
rise, you're going
to have to engage
00:59:16.790 --> 00:59:18.950
in pretty strong counter
security measures.
00:59:18.950 --> 00:59:20.970
So as a result,
neoconservatives would probably
00:59:20.970 --> 00:59:23.582
posit that an Axis
of Evil Dead existed,
00:59:23.582 --> 00:59:25.790
which would make it very
difficult to actually defeat
00:59:25.790 --> 00:59:26.950
just the zombies.
00:59:26.950 --> 00:59:28.713
The other problem is
is that another tenet
00:59:28.713 --> 00:59:32.540
of neoconservativism is the
revolution in military affairs,
00:59:32.540 --> 00:59:34.540
the notion that you
can shock and awe --
00:59:34.540 --> 00:59:38.940
through military pyrotechnics
-- the enemy into acquiescence.
00:59:38.940 --> 00:59:40.380
You can't shock
and awe a zombie.
00:59:40.380 --> 00:59:42.480
So if anything,
inevitably, US forces
00:59:42.480 --> 00:59:43.840
would be sent in too light.
00:59:43.840 --> 00:59:45.640
There would be an insurgency.
00:59:45.640 --> 00:59:47.770
So you would have to
have a massive surge that
00:59:47.770 --> 00:59:49.210
would be incredibly costly.
00:59:49.210 --> 00:59:51.176
And it's not even clear
that that would work.
00:59:51.176 --> 00:59:54.030
- In a sense, we're in the
zombie version of the Cold War
00:59:54.030 --> 00:59:58.540
right now -- the idea of a kind
of global mobilization against
00:59:58.540 --> 01:00:02.640
a kind of threat that
is endlessly flexible,
01:00:02.640 --> 01:00:06.130
is both everywhere and
nowhere at the same time,
01:00:06.130 --> 01:00:08.400
and requires a
total mobilization.
01:00:08.400 --> 01:00:08.610
- Before September 11, 2001...
01:00:08.610 --> 01:00:10.530
We must take the battle to
the enemy, disrupt his plans,
01:00:10.530 --> 01:00:11.830
and confront the worst
threats before they emerge.
01:00:11.830 --> 01:00:13.750
We are in a conflict
between good and evil.
01:00:16.310 --> 01:00:20.150
- They say that perhaps the idea
of peace or war is too simple
01:00:20.150 --> 01:00:23.310
in the Internet Age, when
the world could find itself
01:00:23.310 --> 01:00:26.480
in a third, other-than-war mode.
01:00:26.480 --> 01:00:28.570
- The threat matrix is so wide.
01:00:28.570 --> 01:00:30.020
And it's so deep.
01:00:30.020 --> 01:00:31.507
- The threat could be anywhere.
01:00:31.507 --> 01:00:32.840
It could be committed by anyone.
01:00:32.840 --> 01:00:35.765
- Absolutely unprecedented
in the character of an enemy.
01:00:35.765 --> 01:00:38.030
- Our effort will involve
disorderly regions,
01:00:38.030 --> 01:00:41.750
failed states,
diffuse enemies...
01:00:41.750 --> 01:00:47.950
War has now become this
shapeless enterprise.
01:00:47.950 --> 01:00:52.050
Nobody thinks that a decisive
battle is going to produce
01:00:52.050 --> 01:00:57.390
a decisive victory -- so that
the fear of long, drawn out,
01:00:57.390 --> 01:01:03.050
amorphous, problematic wars
constitute the template
01:01:03.050 --> 01:01:07.220
for what future American
wars are going to look like.
01:01:07.220 --> 01:01:11.950
These are very diffuse kinds
of almost para-national,
01:01:11.950 --> 01:01:17.520
non-state actor, diffuse and
shadowy forms of warfare that
01:01:17.520 --> 01:01:21.480
are written about very clearly
and very analytically in things
01:01:21.480 --> 01:01:24.830
like the National Security
Strategy documents.
01:01:24.830 --> 01:01:27.020
This is the way within
which future wars are
01:01:27.020 --> 01:01:28.140
being described.
01:01:28.140 --> 01:01:30.695
- There have been in a lot of
the post-9/11 Commission kind
01:01:30.695 --> 01:01:33.420
of reports, there's an emphasis
on Red Cell thinking --
01:01:33.420 --> 01:01:36.165
that we do need to have folks
that are doing alternative
01:01:36.165 --> 01:01:37.294
analysis to the mainstream.
01:01:37.294 --> 01:01:38.835
And when you're
faced with this thing
01:01:38.835 --> 01:01:40.384
that you don't
understand, and we
01:01:40.384 --> 01:01:42.342
are faced with things
that we don't understand,
01:01:42.342 --> 01:01:45.410
the temptation is there just
to create a metanarrative that
01:01:45.410 --> 01:01:47.100
explains all kinds of things.
01:01:47.100 --> 01:01:48.859
And by doing so,
you lose visibility
01:01:48.859 --> 01:01:51.025
of what really is in fact
happening in front of you.
01:01:51.025 --> 01:01:53.954
And I think there is a
cautionary tale about how
01:01:53.954 --> 01:01:55.870
you approach things that
you don't understand,
01:01:55.870 --> 01:01:57.140
and you build up a
body of knowledge
01:01:57.140 --> 01:01:59.098
that makes it seem like
there's something real.
01:01:59.098 --> 01:02:01.760
- We missed Saddam Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction.
01:02:01.760 --> 01:02:03.092
We missed the Arab Spring.
01:02:03.092 --> 01:02:04.940
We missed the breakup
of the Soviet Union.
01:02:04.940 --> 01:02:05.560
- Which... which...
01:02:05.560 --> 01:02:07.320
- What are we getting
out of all that money?
01:02:07.320 --> 01:02:07.630
- Intelligence money?
01:02:07.630 --> 01:02:08.480
Yeah.
01:02:08.480 --> 01:02:11.760
Yeah, it is very worrisome
that we missed those things.
01:02:11.760 --> 01:02:15.450
- Have they been able
to prevent another 9/11
01:02:15.450 --> 01:02:17.960
because of this
cyber technology?
01:02:17.960 --> 01:02:20.650
Has it done any good?
01:02:20.650 --> 01:02:24.190
- The question is whether you
can really do this surgically,
01:02:24.190 --> 01:02:26.200
and whether there is
anything surgical that
01:02:26.200 --> 01:02:27.660
could have a blowback effect.
01:02:27.660 --> 01:02:29.640
- Tom Forman is over
at the magic wall.
01:02:29.640 --> 01:02:32.040
Tom, show our viewers
what you're seeing.
01:02:32.040 --> 01:02:34.590
- So much territory,
so many people,
01:02:34.590 --> 01:02:37.696
so many potential targets.
01:02:37.696 --> 01:02:42.360
- That the threat, for real, is
no longer outside our borders.
01:02:42.360 --> 01:02:44.230
It's within our borders.
01:02:44.230 --> 01:02:46.950
And it's not within our
borders with something
01:02:46.950 --> 01:02:51.490
that we can reach out and grab,
like al-Qaeda or Osama bin
01:02:51.490 --> 01:02:52.260
Laden.
01:02:52.260 --> 01:02:53.690
It's going to be
done by something
01:02:53.690 --> 01:03:00.440
that is going to be very, very
subtle and very, very hard
01:03:00.440 --> 01:03:02.520
to get a hand on.
01:03:02.520 --> 01:03:04.460
Climate change --
what can you do?
01:03:04.460 --> 01:03:06.690
When do you call a
drought really bad?
01:03:06.690 --> 01:03:07.720
After three years?
01:03:07.720 --> 01:03:08.360
Four years?
01:03:08.360 --> 01:03:08.914
Five years?
01:03:08.914 --> 01:03:09.705
How about a decade?
01:03:11.190 --> 01:03:17.135
How much resilience does the
United States national system
01:03:17.135 --> 01:03:21.830
-- or the North American
system -- have to handle this?
01:03:21.830 --> 01:03:24.625
And it's not as much
as we would think.
01:03:24.625 --> 01:03:28.380
You know, our resources
are already overcommitted.
01:03:28.380 --> 01:03:30.350
Where?
01:03:30.350 --> 01:03:32.500
It doesn't take a
rocket scientist
01:03:32.500 --> 01:03:35.020
when one looks at the
United States budget.
01:03:35.020 --> 01:03:38.510
We spend so much on Department
of Defense that anything else
01:03:38.510 --> 01:03:41.600
that we should be
planning, we don't
01:03:41.600 --> 01:03:43.130
have the money to do that.
01:03:43.130 --> 01:03:48.315
Suppose we have another great
Gulf hurricane wash ashore,
01:03:48.315 --> 01:03:52.930
or at the same time have another
great hurricane run up the East
01:03:52.930 --> 01:03:57.930
Coast -- something akin to the
hurricane of '38, for example.
01:03:57.930 --> 01:04:02.010
Unless you're in the Maldives,
where you can look every day
01:04:02.010 --> 01:04:06.330
and see your nation disappearing
before your eyes as the sea
01:04:06.330 --> 01:04:10.060
levels come up -- unless
you're those countries,
01:04:10.060 --> 01:04:11.980
you don't have the will.
01:04:11.980 --> 01:04:14.570
And we don't have the will.
01:04:14.570 --> 01:04:17.530
By the time the issue --
certainly an environmental
01:04:17.530 --> 01:04:20.550
issue like climate
change -- gets before us,
01:04:20.550 --> 01:04:22.260
it will be too late.
01:04:22.260 --> 01:04:23.816
- There's huge
concern as to what
01:04:23.816 --> 01:04:25.732
the release of this
methane gas could actually
01:04:25.732 --> 01:04:26.987
do in the long term.
01:04:26.987 --> 01:04:29.475
- It is terrifying what
the science is telling us.
01:04:29.475 --> 01:04:31.850
- It creates this sort of
self-reinforcing leak as well.
01:04:31.850 --> 01:04:33.750
- Exactly, it's a
positive feedback system.
01:04:33.750 --> 01:04:36.720
- That means an intensification
of the greenhouse gas effect,
01:04:36.720 --> 01:04:38.594
and more extreme weather.
01:04:38.594 --> 01:04:41.755
- Last year, we
saw 12 hurricanes.
01:04:41.755 --> 01:04:44.390
But none of them just
made landfall here
01:04:44.390 --> 01:04:45.265
in the United States.
01:04:45.265 --> 01:04:46.181
They were scared away.
01:04:46.181 --> 01:04:47.500
- We appreciate you, as always.
01:04:47.500 --> 01:04:49.074
Thank you so much.
01:04:49.074 --> 01:04:51.240
Well the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention,
01:04:51.240 --> 01:04:53.100
the agency you know that's
charged with protecting
01:04:53.100 --> 01:04:54.680
the public's health
and safety, is
01:04:54.680 --> 01:04:58.110
getting you prepared for
the zombie apocalypse.
01:04:58.110 --> 01:05:01.050
If you happen to learn about
how to prepare for hurricanes,
01:05:01.050 --> 01:05:03.250
earthquakes, or other
natural disasters...
01:05:03.250 --> 01:05:05.830
- And next month it will add
zombies to a list of disaster
01:05:05.830 --> 01:05:08.610
crisis scenarios at the
Counter-terrorism Summit.
01:05:08.610 --> 01:05:10.399
And over 1,000
military personnel,
01:05:10.399 --> 01:05:12.690
law enforcement officials,
and other government workers
01:05:12.690 --> 01:05:13.273
will be there.
01:05:13.273 --> 01:05:15.730
- The particular aspect
that the undead would pose
01:05:15.730 --> 01:05:17.290
is more like an epidemic.
01:05:17.290 --> 01:05:19.370
There's no state involved,
and there's not even
01:05:19.370 --> 01:05:20.620
necessarily an agent involved.
01:05:20.620 --> 01:05:23.690
You're talking about things
like pandemics crossing borders
01:05:23.690 --> 01:05:26.920
effortlessly, or
climate change altering
01:05:26.920 --> 01:05:29.230
the likelihood of natural
disasters occurring,
01:05:29.230 --> 01:05:31.800
or financial markets
becoming so complex that it's
01:05:31.800 --> 01:05:34.010
impossible to regulate
them effectively,
01:05:34.010 --> 01:05:37.020
or the internet becoming such
an interdependent web that cyber
01:05:37.020 --> 01:05:39.120
terrorism can cause just
as serious a problem
01:05:39.120 --> 01:05:40.950
as actual terrorism.
01:05:40.950 --> 01:05:44.015
- If cyber war would be fought
in a domain that's neither
01:05:44.015 --> 01:05:46.490
military, nor
civilian, but both...
01:05:46.490 --> 01:05:49.392
who is best equipped
to take charge?
01:05:49.392 --> 01:05:52.140
- Spilling over into
the media, both sides
01:05:52.140 --> 01:05:55.546
trying to demonstrate
the other more monstrous.
01:05:55.546 --> 01:05:57.473
- Well we don't have
a handle on this,
01:05:57.473 --> 01:06:00.390
even in terms of the most
basic data collection.
01:06:00.390 --> 01:06:06.350
- The viral spread of actual
disease or information,
01:06:06.350 --> 01:06:10.820
the idea of a tipping point
-- that society is incredibly
01:06:10.820 --> 01:06:12.080
complex.
01:06:12.080 --> 01:06:15.870
But almost like in the game of
Jenga, if you pulled one out
01:06:15.870 --> 01:06:18.480
an incredibly complex
system could collapse.
01:06:18.480 --> 01:06:20.400
And that particularly
captures, I
01:06:20.400 --> 01:06:22.292
think, a lot of our
modern structures.
01:06:22.292 --> 01:06:24.750
- Well the interesting thing
is that a lot of these threats
01:06:24.750 --> 01:06:27.220
actually resemble zombies,
in that natural disasters
01:06:27.220 --> 01:06:29.720
or pandemics, you're
dealing with responses
01:06:29.720 --> 01:06:30.605
to what man does.
01:06:30.605 --> 01:06:33.800
But at the same time, you can't
negotiate with climate change.
01:06:33.800 --> 01:06:35.360
You can't negotiate
with a virus.
01:06:35.360 --> 01:06:36.820
And certainly, I think
it would probably
01:06:36.820 --> 01:06:39.236
be the case that you can't
negotiate with a zombie either.
01:06:39.236 --> 01:06:41.640
So what zombies would
inevitably contribute to
01:06:41.640 --> 01:06:44.110
is further state collapse.
01:06:44.110 --> 01:06:46.220
- Climate change
plus the refugees
01:06:46.220 --> 01:06:49.780
converging as a major
transnational issue
01:06:49.780 --> 01:06:55.640
is going to make responding to
disasters like Katrina small
01:06:55.640 --> 01:06:56.850
by comparison.
01:06:56.850 --> 01:06:59.400
In World World Z, we
talked about offline,
01:06:59.400 --> 01:07:04.302
the issue comes up in terms of
how our military are organized
01:07:04.302 --> 01:07:08.240
-- and for what mission
-- in the novel itself,
01:07:08.240 --> 01:07:11.850
because it talks about all
the high tech gimmickry that
01:07:11.850 --> 01:07:15.850
we've got, and how -- the Battle
of the Bronx, in the story --
01:07:15.850 --> 01:07:18.500
how all that stuff, but there
were millions of people coming
01:07:18.500 --> 01:07:19.355
across.
01:07:19.355 --> 01:07:22.060
Now, those were zombies.
01:07:22.060 --> 01:07:25.276
In my case, replace the word
"zombie" with "refugees."
01:07:25.276 --> 01:07:28.130
And I don't mean
them to be the same.
01:07:28.130 --> 01:07:31.320
But imagine the same kind of
consequence: seas of humanity.
01:07:31.320 --> 01:07:34.080
And what's more, it'll
be worse because we
01:07:34.080 --> 01:07:36.835
can de-personalize a zombie.
01:07:36.835 --> 01:07:38.740
A zombie's dead.
01:07:38.740 --> 01:07:43.260
But the refugees that will
be coming will be people.
01:07:43.260 --> 01:07:45.150
So there are lessons
in that book.
01:07:45.150 --> 01:07:46.700
And by the way, it's
required reading
01:07:46.700 --> 01:07:48.815
for some military organizations.
01:08:01.074 --> 01:08:01.580
- Thank you.
01:08:01.580 --> 01:08:04.440
This is not the normal crowd
that I'm used to addressing.
01:08:06.950 --> 01:08:09.230
These are not
Starfleet uniforms,
01:08:09.230 --> 01:08:12.520
so I'm clearly not at Comic-Con.
01:08:12.520 --> 01:08:17.200
- It's my pleasure today to
introduce Mr. Max Brooks.
01:08:17.200 --> 01:08:20.810
He's considered the world's
foremost zombie preparedness
01:08:20.810 --> 01:08:22.960
expert.
01:08:22.960 --> 01:08:26.470
The reason he's here is because
I think he truly understands
01:08:26.470 --> 01:08:28.640
the potential for
a global crisis,
01:08:28.640 --> 01:08:31.470
and just how
unprepared we might be.
01:08:31.470 --> 01:08:32.142
Max Brooks.
01:08:32.142 --> 01:08:33.870
- Thank you, Admiral.
01:08:33.870 --> 01:08:37.120
We live in a planet where...
01:08:37.120 --> 01:08:40.089
I guess the best metaphor -- and
it's fitting I should be here
01:08:40.089 --> 01:08:44.370
-- is we literally are
all in the same boat.
01:08:44.370 --> 01:08:47.359
What I was trying
to do in World War Z
01:08:47.359 --> 01:08:49.560
was bring people
together in a connection,
01:08:49.560 --> 01:08:53.970
and see how what could be
an environmental crisis,
01:08:53.970 --> 01:08:56.700
or medical crisis, or a
social crisis of today
01:08:56.700 --> 01:09:01.109
will become a national
security crisis tomorrow.
01:09:01.109 --> 01:09:04.109
There's a part in the book
which is very Katrina-esque.
01:09:04.109 --> 01:09:05.659
I wrote it before Katrina.
01:09:05.659 --> 01:09:07.700
And I thought I was going
to get criticism on it.
01:09:07.700 --> 01:09:10.390
Because people say, "Well,
this would never happen.
01:09:10.390 --> 01:09:13.930
Because people always do
the right thing in crises."
01:09:17.060 --> 01:09:19.500
Panic can destroy us.
01:09:19.500 --> 01:09:20.700
And in Yonkers, it does.
01:09:20.700 --> 01:09:24.990
But we've had crises that would
have destroyed other nations,
01:09:24.990 --> 01:09:27.322
that they never would
have recovered from.
01:09:27.322 --> 01:09:28.280
And we keep rebounding.
01:09:31.030 --> 01:09:34.319
For me, the zombie genre is...
01:09:34.319 --> 01:09:37.664
it portrays how truly fragile
we are, because let's face it --
01:09:37.664 --> 01:09:42.260
in the post-Iraq, post-Bush
America, which is coming soon,
01:09:42.260 --> 01:09:44.779
we have to rebuild a lot.
01:09:44.779 --> 01:09:47.660
And we can't just be like the
Europeans, just be like, "Ah,
01:09:47.660 --> 01:09:50.618
(ADOPTS FRENCH ACCENT)
life is all shit, eh?
01:09:53.502 --> 01:09:55.960
No, we... we're going to have
to roll up our sleeves and do
01:09:55.960 --> 01:09:58.100
a lot of hard... a lot of work.
01:09:58.100 --> 01:10:00.350
- I think the one thing that
the zombie canon actually
01:10:00.350 --> 01:10:03.232
gets wrong is the
immediate assumption
01:10:03.232 --> 01:10:04.940
that if a zombie
emerges, you immediately
01:10:04.940 --> 01:10:06.920
get to the apocalypse.
01:10:06.920 --> 01:10:09.290
It's the assumption that
all it needs is one undead,
01:10:09.290 --> 01:10:12.540
and then eventually,
inevitably, the world ends.
01:10:12.540 --> 01:10:15.600
I think in some ways, that's
one of the problems with policy
01:10:15.600 --> 01:10:18.330
responses to terrorism, is the
notion that even if a terrorist
01:10:18.330 --> 01:10:21.332
incident takes place -- as awful
and tragic as that would be --
01:10:21.332 --> 01:10:22.415
it's the end of the world.
01:10:22.415 --> 01:10:24.950
And so, in some ways, the...
01:10:24.950 --> 01:10:26.440
the message I would
probably carry
01:10:26.440 --> 01:10:27.977
is the same message
Douglas Adams
01:10:27.977 --> 01:10:29.810
had in The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy,
01:10:29.810 --> 01:10:31.572
which is "Don't panic."
01:10:31.572 --> 01:10:32.530
These threats are real.
01:10:32.530 --> 01:10:34.030
I don't mean to minimize them.
01:10:34.030 --> 01:10:36.390
But at the same time,
if you exaggerate them,
01:10:36.390 --> 01:10:39.670
the overreaction to the
threat might in the end
01:10:39.670 --> 01:10:41.048
actually worsen the threat.
01:10:41.048 --> 01:10:43.040
And that's what
you want to avoid.
01:10:44.160 --> 01:10:48.610
- In the end, if any light gets
through, it's extreme optimism.
01:10:48.610 --> 01:10:50.735
Because, I mean as long as
people keep questioning,
01:10:50.735 --> 01:10:55.340
and as long as people keep...
keep trying not to get bitten
01:10:55.340 --> 01:10:56.105
by zombies.
01:10:56.105 --> 01:10:57.480
Because you've
got to think, it'd
01:10:57.480 --> 01:10:58.850
be kind of easier sometimes.
01:10:58.850 --> 01:10:59.550
They're tired of running.
01:10:59.550 --> 01:11:00.025
They're hungry.
01:11:00.025 --> 01:11:00.390
You know what I mean?
01:11:00.390 --> 01:11:01.770
What's left in the world?
01:11:01.770 --> 01:11:05.215
You know, there's... there's
something wonderful in that.
01:11:05.215 --> 01:11:07.090
The light that pushes
up through the darkness
01:11:07.090 --> 01:11:09.042
is the most hopeful light.
01:11:14.910 --> 01:11:17.920
- Are we talking about
the emergence of a new
01:11:17.920 --> 01:11:22.000
internationalism where, because
of this net centric form
01:11:22.000 --> 01:11:22.500
of inner...
01:11:22.500 --> 01:11:25.690
of relating to one another,
new political allegiances
01:11:25.690 --> 01:11:26.880
can be made?
01:11:26.880 --> 01:11:28.550
What does this do
for social movements?
01:11:28.550 --> 01:11:30.900
- I think this is
a moment that could
01:11:30.900 --> 01:11:34.820
change our whole global
perspective on how
01:11:34.820 --> 01:11:36.040
people create change.
01:11:36.040 --> 01:11:40.280
It's wired -- never ends.
01:11:40.280 --> 01:11:46.520
- There are moments in history
in which profound questions
01:11:46.520 --> 01:11:49.920
about the possibility
of new beginnings --
01:11:49.920 --> 01:11:53.240
what I call epiphanies
of possibilities --
01:11:53.240 --> 01:11:56.280
that there are moments
in history when these
01:11:56.280 --> 01:12:00.140
possibilities are posed
to us was very sharply.
01:12:00.140 --> 01:12:03.079
And so freedom doesn't
have a... if you wish,
01:12:03.079 --> 01:12:03.870
a certain endpoint.
01:12:03.870 --> 01:12:07.468
It is something that
changes constantly.
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 74 minutes
Date: 2015
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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