Question: Do you think your country can keep you safe from terrorists?. Voters in Spain answered this question on Sunday. Many said no. They are not alone. Many people in the US and other parts of Europe reading this think the same thing. This reaction is key to understanding what is going wrong globally. The nation-state is in decline. It has failed in its most basic task: to provide for the safety of its citizens. It has lost its monopoly on violence. It is losing its control over its economy (a quick glimpse at the US trade deficit is a case in point). Increases in globalization and new technology exacerbates this process of decline.
The consequences of the delegitimization of the nation-state will be central to life in the next century. [John Robb’s Weblog]
The answer is yes, I do think my country can keep me safe from terrorists. However, that’s not really the question John is asking. He’s really asking if I think my country’s government can keep me safe. The answer to that is an emphatic “no.” In fact, not only can the government not keep me safe, it does many things both internationally and domestically that make me dramatically less safe.
Leave a Reply