Well summer has finally ended, and I have no choice but to accept the unfortunate reality that school is beginning yet again.  On the plus side, now that I've returned to academia and a somewhat-normal routine, I'm set to resume blogging regularly (or at least less-irregularly).  To kick things off, here is a response to Dan Drezner's post about how millennials understand foreign policy.  Jeremy wrote a terrific response last week, and so I'm going to expand upon some of his themes and explore a few new ones.

I see two major points in this discussion:

1) We are not isolationist, instead we are globalized to an unprecedented degree.
2) We are cynical of how the world works, but that is not always a bad thing.

The most important point, contra-Drezner, is that our generation is not going to be "anti-interventionist to the point of isolationism."  Instead, as Jeremy noted, this generation is truly the first "globalized generation."  In terms of foreign policy, this means that we understand the inherent interconnectedness of today's world.  Every individual across the globe could potentially impact our lives here, as the 9/11 hijackers proved, and as we increasingly rely on the internet for all aspects of our daily lives our vulnerability too grows.  This is the bitter fruit of economic globalization and the revolutions in communications, travel, and technology that have changed the fundamentals of our existence.

Furthermore, we millennials understand that there is no going back.  We cannot retreat to "Fortress America" and choose isolation; for seclusion is no longer an option.  There are two reasons for this - structural and personal.  Structurally, I find it hard to believe that the world will stop "shrinking" anytime soon.  Communications technologies are constantly growing more powerful, and as the global economy continues to integrate it pulls the world inextricably together.  We no longer manufacture everything in America that we need to survive, and the oceans of the world no longer serve as protective barriers against foreign intrusion.  America is part of this global system, and millennials understand that taking our ball and going home simply no longer applies.

On the personal level, globalization, however you choose to define it, has taken root amongst our peers.  Many millennials have traveled, studied, lived, and worked overseas, and not solely in Old Europe.  We are fortunate to have these opportunities, made possible by the decrease in time, barriers, and, most importantly, cost of international adventure.  The factors that enabled us to travel more than any previous generation are not going away, nor are the connections we made to people, places, and cultures.  In other words, we millennials have a greater understanding of the globe than our predecessors, and a vested interest in places that is impossible to otherwise replicate.

The second major point concerns our relationship with governments, our own and foreign, and the international system.  We are, to put it mildly, cynical.  The distortions and lies of the Bush Administration regarding Iraq headline the list of grievances, but struggling through the Great Recession while watching Congress dither is only slightly less influential.  Thanks to the miracle of the internet we have witnessed the prevarications of other governments and the ways in which they manipulate their own people.

This cynicism is not necessarily a bad thing.  Our eyes are open to the ways of the world, and we are prepared to analyze the events of the future, not simply accept what we are given.  And this doesn't mean that idealistic optimism is dead - we millennials have our fair share of dreamers, planners, and changers.  But we do recognize the difficulties of achieving real, substantive, enduring changes, and come prepared.

Drezner's post is laced with pessimism for the future, and Jeremy is fueled by anger and frustration from our experiences.  I don't share these views, but, like Jeremy, I am cautiously optimistic about the chances for our future.  The interconnected world presents evolving threats, and it will require intellectual rigor, pragmatic flexibility, and a clear vision to meet these new challenges.  I have faith that we millennials are prepared for what comes next.

Today we have a new message from Al Qaeda, purportedly from Osama bin Laden. In it, I believe, we see a continuation of a new trend in AQ communication: find ways to tie their brand of Qutbist Salafism to what they perceive as the source of other anti-western ideologies.

Who is AQ's new enemy? Meet the new boss -- same as the old boss. Globalization, Western Governments, International Corporations, and the President of the United States. Only, AQ no longer hates them because they are the Jahili Corrupters of the True Islam, or the Zionist-Crusader Alliance to Destroy the Umma. Now they deserve destruction for pollution and green house gas emissions.

Perhaps I would have been more convinced if the message had ended with OBL screaming "with our powers combined...", yet, his ability to co-opt these issues as AQ's own is severely limited -- as much as AQ wants to appear inclusionist and pragmatically issue-driven in their mission, they remain, in fact, an elitist, exclusionist movement.

They are lead by inflexible billionaire demagogues drawn from the elites of their home countries. For every message attempting to "issue include" new groups or individuals, there is a message of exclusion or purging -- usually from Abu Yahyia al Libi.

Yet, as was proven by the efficacy of the M-11 Bombings in Madrid, Al Qaeda has realized one important thing -- that while they have little ability to power-project into Western Nations, they do have the ability to radicalize and inspire western self-starters through their strategic communications. I agree with Jarret Brachman's analysis that AQ has rebranded itself from a terrorist organization that uses the media to a media organization that uses terror.

One worrying possibility -- IntelCenter (the masters of connecting terrorists to other people with lines) has done an excellent job correlating AQ communications and actual attacks, and with 2 such communications from bin Laden this week, I hope that their warnings on this issue are off base.

While I'm sure there will be a big media spin-up surrounding this new communication from AQ, lets not lend too much credence to the message that Osama has spread here.

AQ railing against globalization is like Scott Brown railing against pick-up trucks.

AQ does not choose their enemies based on the ratification of the Kyoto Protocols, nor are they looking to partner-up with the Green movement. AQ simply seeks out non-religious language with which to mask their twistedly corrupted brand of Political Islam. This message is merely AQ's attempt to further define their enemies through language that doesn't sound as millenarianly cosmic as their actual beliefs. I think we may be witnessing Adam Ghadan's input here.

Thanks for reading, see below for the pertinent quotes from bin Laden's message. Please tell me what you think as well!

From today's Osama bin Laden message:
“This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions – whether intentionally or unintentionally – and about the action we must take…”

“Speaking about climate change is not a matter of intellectual luxury – the phenomenon is an actual fact.”

“All the industrial states…[are to blame for climate change]…yet the majority of those states have signed the Kyoto Protocol and agreed to curb the emission of harmful gases.”

“However, George Bush junior, preceded by [the US] congress, dismissed the agreement to placate giant corporations. And they are themselves standing behind speculation, monopoly and soaring living costs.”

“They are also behind ‘globalisation and its tragic implications’. And whenever the perpetrators are found guilty, the heads of state rush to rescue them using public money.”

“Noam Chomsky [the US academic and political commentator] was correct when he compared the US policies to those of the Mafia. They are the true terrorists and therefore we should refrain from dealing in the US dollar and should try to get rid of this currency as early as possible.”

“I am certain that such actions will have grave repercussions and huge impact.”‘

“Those heinous crimes that shocked humanity, nothing of worth mentioning significance has changed. After all this, their new agent [President Obama] was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which he received to further deceive and humiliate mankind.”

“The bitter truth has become clear; namely, the world is abducted by the owners of the giant corporations.”

“The world has a historic opportunity to be liberated from dependency on America because it is, with God’s grace, in a critical predicament, drowned in the quagmires of Iraq, and lost among the mountains of Afghanistan.”