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What can drive a 5GW campaign? What’s it’s catalyst? What pumping engine hammers it out and spreads it forth? The Super Empowered Individual? Or the mastery of ideology?
I’ve talked before of mastering the media and how such mastery is divided from the influence we see in various 4GW efforts.
Now I’ll discuss the mastery of ideology and how those that could, hypothetically, master ideology are divided from those that are enslaved by ideology. That which divides the two is not so easily realized as it may seem.
What of Osama bin Laden? Certainly the argument could be made that he has, quite effectively, mastered the ideology he professes. From his early years as financial kingpin of a propaganda initiative to encourage and invite Arab individuals to join the Afghan Mujaheddin (I.e. the creation of the Arab Mujaheddin via the “Services Offices“) in Afghanistan to his fomentation of al Qaeda in the nascent form of al Masada (the Lions Den) to the spectacular attacks on America on 9/11 bin Laden has seemed to profess a mastery of his own ideology. What divides him from the 5GW actor beyond the obvious and overt?
He believes and identifies with the cause he puts forth. He is, like any follower of AQ’s counter geo-political cause, a fervent defender and acolyte of his own pious vision of Islam. In short, his own ideology enslaves not only the masses that follow his perverted course but also himself. His convictions and his ideology are one and the same. He has not mastered his ideology, rather been enslaved by his own fervent beliefs and so his ideological cause comes to be truth. He has, effectively, lashed himself to his own ideals.
I’ve tossed the fantastical idea (depending on which side of the Bible one stands) of the Anti-Christ as a 5GWarrior about before.
“For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,[a]’ and will deceive many.” Matthew 24:5
“With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.” Revelation 19:20
In effect what divides the 5GWarrior from the powerful (even super empowered) like of Osama bin Laden is not the effect but rather the cause. In short, Osama truly believes the rhetoric he espouses to be “holy” and absolute. Contrarily the Anti-Christ is quite comfortable managing a massive influence and set of beliefs that he propagates as “real” yet does not, in the least bit, believe. The 5GWarrior presents a convincing ideology from a perspective of absolute emotional detachment and disbelief. You believe, he decides.
Posted by subadei on Aug 20, 2007 09:00 PM
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8 Comments
Very interesting post. I’m curious what others will say.
Is it possible that the 5GWarrior actually does have an ideology he believes 100%, but it’s not the ideology or ideologies he propagates?
My thinking on this has been a little different from yours. Generally, I agree with you as far as the 5GW effort goes — i.e., during the process of building the ideal or targeted system — but that when all is said and done, the system that finally emerges will fit the 5GWarrior’s ideology to a “T” and most others will have internalized it as well. It’s just that during this process, as the 5GW is ongoing, the “5GW master of ideolog(ies)” will be master of so many ideologies held by others (even if he has to create them first!), and they will not realize that the end game will include their adoption of an ideology they haven’t been utilizing. Many will not even realize that the change has taken place, by the end of things.
If I understand this correctly, I think I disagree.
Generations of war are merely techniques or technologies — the “causes” behind them are black-boxes during implementation.
If you mean that a 5GW actor will make use of or manipulate some other ideology-driven actor without sharing the ideology of that actor, then I agree.
If you mean a 5GW actor won’t have an ideology, well then I don’t. Though I suppose there could be a subset of of 5GW actors that that don’t have political ideology or political goals.
I think I agree with Curtis and Purpleslog, as the Secret nature of 5GW implies that the 5GWarrior’s ideology will be masked or hidden, yet the endstate of her efforts will lead to an outcome consistent with her ideology. I’m not sure about black-boxing the causes inside the heads of agents because I tend to approach agency as a holistic, externalist phenomenon, where the ideas people have about the world are acquired socially or culturally. Black-boxing agency would then deny the opportunity to see how ideologies come about, and perhaps how different ideologies lead to different Generations of War.
Apologies for the vagueness of this post but it’s been bouncing around in my head for a while and a discussion in the forums sort of completed the circuit, if you will and I wanted to put it down as it came. Make sense? At any rate:
I do believe the 5GW actor can have a cause. But I believe his cause will not be the ideology he uses to influence or as I put above, “enslave.” Much of bin Ladens drawbacks both as an effective 4GW actor and as a possible 5GW stem from the fervent ideology that encircles him. It’s constricting and narrows his tactics. It makes him loud (consider this in terms of static) and the consequence of this has been the decimation of his organization. As horrific and spectacular as the murderous 9/11 attacks where they also served a harbinger for the disruption and scattering of what was a very effective 4GW network. Too loud.
Contrarily the cause of the Anti-Christ is quiet. Certainly not benevolent to man but the ideology he wields (masters) bears the appearance of goodwill, thus the masses that follow. Present and enforce one set of values in an effort to achieve a very different conclusion that fit’s with or accomplishes your own goal or ideology.
I have more to say on this but will stop for now and await further commentary.
Dan,
Could you expound upon the black-boxes bit?
Jay, would non-ideological causes be things like:
- make a lot of money
- control lots of resources
- help my nation or kin flourish
- punish an actor that has wrongd me in some way
It seems to me the anti-christ (are we talking “the” or “a”) would be ideological driven. I would consider a postmodern anarchism or nihilisms or special suicidal death wish as ideological.
Maybe I am not thinking anti-Christ the same way as you are. Thinking about the anti-Christ and end days hasn’t really played a part in my personal theoloy/moral philosophy/catholicism (or post-catholicism - if that is more accurate terms for any friends of my thinking “hey did he just call himself a Catholic again!”).
P’slog,
We’re talking the Anti-Christ as in Revelation.
I’m not suggesting that the 5GW actor won’t adhere to an indeology rather that he’d be best served not using his true ideology (or cause) as a catalyst for his operation. I use the example of bin Laden because bin Laden’s ideology or cause is not only his catalyst but also, very directly, the engine for his 4GW crusade. Bin Laden very freely makes his intentions known, utilizing the media in a very direct fashion to build his vision. He’s loud where as the 5GWarrior will be mute. We know what bin Laden wants. We won’t know what the 5GWarrior intention or ideology will truly entail because he’ll present a false ideology to mask his true colors. It’s here where the Anti-Christ (see the above Biblical quotes) captures my idea.
Better yet, Peter and Valentine Wiggin of the Ender series and their Demosthenes and Locke “pen-names.” The cause was Peter’s want for hegemonic power and control. The ideologies put forth by each never reflected this cause and indeed often ran contrary to each or the other’s true ideology. But the end game was to enslave the populace ideologically and steer them, ultimately, to Peter becoming Hegemon.
I’ve been thinking about this a bit more, specifically how a 4GW actor (bin Laden) obtains his ideology and how a 5GW actor (anti-christ) does the same. For bin Laden, his ideology is derived from religion, which has been around for hundreds of years as a cultural phenomenon, so there is a limit to the ideological innovation that bin Laden can undertake. It is the external aspect of religion as an ideology that binds bin Laden’s actions and ‘enslaves’ him. Thus, as a cause, I’d say this is more difficult to black box because so much of the basis of 4GW ideology is derived externally, from a historical/social/cultural context.
For a 5GW actor, his ideology is far less externally derived and more internally dependent. Rather than being empowered by a culturally derived source, a 5GW actor is empowered by himself, or whatever outcome he is working to achieve. So then this ‘cause’ can be black boxed because it far more prevalent in the mind of the actor rather than in the context in which he operates.