'Beyond Terror: Creating a New Security Agenda'

Introductory remarks by James Der Derian , Director, Global Security Program

Ever since I took on the job of Global Security Director I've been feeling increasingly insecure. I guess some of that comes with the territory, but my unease does seem to be reflected in a recent spate of polls and books on the subject, including a series of Gallup International and World Economic Forum Polls taken in over 50 countries, regular reports from the World Bank, UN and other NGOS's, and comprehensive studies like WorldWatch's State of the World Report 2005 . One of the goals of this workshop is to get into the reasons, the roots, and - from my po-mo friends who are here - even the rhizomes of why this is so. But as a way of introducing the workshop, as well as our first panel, I'd like to highlight a particular concern that informs both the content and format of this workshop. Why do conscientious and repeated efforts to redefine global security, by international organizations, philanthropic foundations, and yes, workshops like this one, fail to have a discernible impact on what can only be called a perilous global condition? What can be done about it? The title and intent of this event indicates the first step, to get beyond 9/11. We can, and I'm sure we will, differ on what that means and how one goes about it. But for those who might doubt its significance, let me give you a quote that states the issue in remarkably frank terms. It's probably familiar to most you, comes from Ron Suskind's New York Times Sunday Magazine feature that was printed just before the US presidential elections last October:

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

As an in judicious student of virtual realities, I felt less tarred by this broad stroke than some might, like my more social scientific brethren. But any sense of superiority disappeared with Bush's victory in November, and quickly gave way to alarm these past few months, as we've seen Paul Wolfowitz take over the World Bank, John Negroponte become the new director of National Intelligence, John Bolton could well be the next US ambassador to the UN, Cardinal Ratzinger – who surely would consider many in this crowd to be card-carrying members of the 'dictatorship of relativism ' - is now the new Pope, and our President seems more intent than ever on proving Albert Einstein right, who said 'Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. '

So, the question I posed to myself, and now to you: What is the 'reality-based community to do?' Go virtual, get more real, or just carry on, business as usual?

As a prelude to this workshop, and in an effort to reach as wide an audience as possible, we decided to adopt interactive strategies. Confronting the current national security simulacra and the shortcomings of a 'reality-based' critique, we opted for some supplemental multi-media strategies. This is where the memory stick comes into the picture. Some might think it a shameless exercise in branding – and you'd be right; but we also wanted to produce a more interactive archive for this event, one that we can change, revise, expand – and correct - at speed. In HTML format, we can quickly get it all up on the web for the widest possible audience, which, along with the global security blog and web-streaming means this event will not have a single discussant or editor, but potentially thousands of discussants and editors, informing us where we got it wrong, and where we got it right. By going with memory sticks rather than paper documents we also wanted to save a few trees. However, if you would like to print any document from the stick, there are two computers with printer support on the second floor, in room 204.

I'd like just briefly go over a few key elements of the memory stick: pretty user-friendly, includes the program, key questions we hope to address, biographies, bibliographies, and the global security manifesto and matrix. This is an organic, evolving document, a beta-version that we will revisit at the final roundtable panel of the workshop. Ultimately we will input the results of this event into the matrix, and with support from Brown's Scholar Technology Group, transform it into a fully immersive security environment. Think of the movie 'The Matrix' - without any agent Smiths.

With that, let me introduce our panelists: