RSS

"The Power of Statelessness"

Jakub Grygiel | Hoover Institution | May 2009

For almost three hundred years independent states have been the primary vehicles, and objectives, of political action. Today, however, only very few stirve for political goals within the framework of a particular state. Quite the opposite: many can achieve their goals more easily when they have no connection to a state apparatus. State systems are merely a hindrance to active political groups because a state increases their vulnerability to enemies. Statelessness now offers nearly as many avenues for political power and mobilization as do modern states. Four factors have contributed to this development:

Communication Technology: Thanks to new technology the state is no longer the only instrument to organize large people groups and effectively mobilize them. Mobile telephones, digital cameras and the internet all play their part in creating new societal groups, which can be maintained beyond the control of any national state. Currently, such communities are labelled "virtual networks." They are organized through "cyber mobilization" and are characterized above all by unpredictability.

Weapon Technology: Improvements in weapon technology have led to increased ease in acquiring and operating deadly weapons. For many years states had a monopoly on the necessary resources and  know-how to procure expensive and complex weapons systems. Nowadays, non-state actors turn simple airplanes into rockets, cars into bombs, and can bring economic and political life to a temporarily standstill with computers or mobile telephones.

Statelessness as a Survival Strategy: The greater the capabilities of states, especially of great powers, to mutually destroy one another, the more dangerous it is to command a state. This is especially the case for actors who have goals of challenging other existing states. A state can quickly become a burden because it must be incessantly defended. In comparison, statelessness minimizes one's own visibility and increases one's chances of survival.

Extremist Ideologies: Political groups today often represent radical positions and extremist ideologies. The establishment and maintenance of state structures, however, necessitate compromise. Often even the leaders of totalitarian or authoritarian states can only conditional fulfil the desires of extremists and their followers. A state can therefore quickly become the source of discontent and accordingly endanger those in power.

Decentralizing the state provides one possible defense strategy against stateless opposition. A decentralized infrastructure, such as electricity supply, is considerably more suited to survive attacks from enemy groups. The same applies to police, intelligence and military units. The key question is: how decentralized can states become in order to fight stateless actors without becoming too weak, in the event that their enemy should be another state?

This summary was prepared by the Atlantic Community editorial team from "The Power of Statelessness, The Withering appeal of governing" published here by the Hoover Institution