Congress and the “YouTube War”

Abstract

The United States is fighting a kind of in its on Terror, or so says President Bush. He's right. For the first time since the days of the Barbary pirates, America is doing active battle not with a rival nation, but with a non-state actor (al Qaeda) that lacks a geographical home, is motivated by ideology more than territorial ambition, and whose victories are defined in non-military terms. It is an enemy that uses communication technology, public opinion, and the global 24-hour news cycle to wage its battles. It is, in a very real sense, the first YouTube War of the twenty-first century. The rise of al Qaeda is a sign of the era in which we live. With the spread of economic and political liberalization, with the advent of new communication technology, and with the gradual erosion of state power and influence, individuals, organizations, and institutions are enjoying an unprecedented opportunity to affect international events. The rise of the non-state actor stands to become the most resonant characteristic of global affairs at the dawn of the twentyfirst century. Yet the stateless nature of this kind of enemy is not being reflected in America s current anti-terrorism strategy. In fact, the United States is wielding a military approach against its jihadist foes that is straight out of a twentieth-century playbook. President Bush has chosen to wage this different kind of war in Iraq, in a manner reminiscent of the Balkan wars, the conflict in Rwanda, and even the Vietnam a territorial, resource-based conflict between rival ethnic and religious groups competing for the spoils of political power.