Globalization and Asymmetrical Warfare

Globalization is having a tremendous effect on the ability of terrorist and criminal organizations to act on a global scale. These organizations are using asymmetrical means to target U.S. interests at home and abroad. The events of September 11th were the culminating effect of this trend that has played an increasingly greater role in the world in which we live. This research paper analyzes the globalization trend and the effect it is having on the ability to wage this new type of war. The negative effects of globalization have continued to create a large disenfranchised population primarily centered in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. This disenfranchised population has become the recruitment pool and their countries have become training bases for the networked terrorist and criminal who take advantage of the tools of globalization. Those tools include the internet that provides secure means of communication, the technology that enables them to act, and the porous environment that allows one to move around the world undetected.