A little fun
A very serious but somewhat amusing article (at least for me) for you to read. Take a look and think about it. It’s not completely relevant to our committee, but I still thought it was interesting. I’ll have more articles later in the day that actually deal directly with India.
WHEN two undersea cables were damaged, apparently by ships’ anchors, five miles north of Alexandria on January 30th, it seemed like a reminder of the fragility of the internet. The cables—one owned by FLAG Telecom, a subsidiary of India’s Reliance Group, the other (SEA-ME-WE 4) by a consortium of 16 telecoms firms—carry almost 90% of the data traffic that goes through the Suez canal. When the connections failed, they took with them almost all internet links between Europe and the Gulf and South Asia.
Read the entire story here
February 10th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Quite amusing - but it does show how reliant the international community and more importantly prominent nations of strategic importance are on our nation’s technology and industry. Hopefully we will be able to use this influence to affect the advancement of diplomacy. We should remember this case if conflict should arise, for if the time comes we have the capability of disrupting the internet and throwing communication into chaos at least temporarily. This of course could not be done deliberately by our government, but a terrible “accident” or “seismic anomaly” could be arranged. Again, we have to keep our options open and be ready to initiate unorthodox tactics if we are to attain any sort of national defense.
February 10th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I’ll agree that the story is perhaps more in the way of entertainment than information, and I’d be doubtful of its relevance if it were anywhere except on The Economist.
One interesting lesson to take away is the idea of “panic”. During times of crisis, with limited information, people tend to jump to conclusions. In some ways, this is a rational thing to do, because by preparing for a “worst case” scenario, you create insurance.
On the other hand, imagine if any one of the writers on Iran were actually someone important, or a head of state. Suddenly speculation gives way to strategic readiness, and hype may turn into hostility. Historically, we see that many wars are started by a “snowballing” effect.
Even worse, what if the general public begins to cry wolf? Even if the Ministers are of the most rational sort, they must in some way accommodate the public passion (if they’re in a democracy). Perhaps that’s why states of emergency were invented…
February 10th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Mr. Rivers,
As a side note, and I don’t mean to pry, but are by any chance the same individual mentioned here?
www.hbhsmun.org/Topic%20Synopsis/Surf%20City/Crisis.doc
If you are, then I am quite glad that we’ll be having a person of experience on board (and someone who understands the demands upon Crisis Chairs).
Particularly, I also notice that you offer individual intelligence briefs prior to the conference. As one Chair to another, I think that it’s a novel idea. What were your experiences in offering it? Was it worthwhile?
If you’re not the person mentioned, then I apologize for bothering you.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Yes that is I, I was the Head Director of Crisis, I started the first ever at the Surf City Conference and it proved to be a good opportunity to learn both for delegates and my staff at a high school level conference.
The main difference in the manner I ran committee than the other crises I have been in was that my staff and I represented the KGB for the Soviet Council and the CIA for EXCOMM as opposed to the omniscient and omnipotent manner in which many crisis directors handle the situation and brief the delegates.
The individual intelligence briefs were quite worthwhile - each person upon request received a very authentic looking document from his respective intelligence agency with info prone to his position. Some were given information that others were not, though each had a level of expertise on the issues. It also gave me an opportunity to warn the delegates that the issue was not limited to the Cuban Missile Crisis (halfway into committee the crisis within the crisis was Outbreak of War in Berlin) and therefore the attentive ones were adequately prepared. I can send you a copy of these if you would like some examples. There is still time for this conference if you would like to consider it.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
An interesting concept… perhaps we will take advantage of your experience and implement it in this year’s Crisis. Thank you for your input!