Deadly transfers and the global playground : transnational security threats in a disorderly world / Robert Mandel.

ISBN:

9780313028113

9780275962289

Title:

Deadly transfers and the global playground : transnational security threats in a disorderly world / Robert Mandel.

Author:

Mandel, Robert, 1949-

Personal Author:

Mandel, Robert, 1949-

Publication Information:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 1999.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 139 pages) : illustrations

Contents:

Preliminaries; Contents; Figures; Preface; Introduction; 1 The Emerging Global Playground; 2 The Spread of Deadly Transfers; 3 Intractable Causes, Pernicious Consequences, and Futile Cures; 4 Clandestine Arms Flows; 5 Illegal Migrant Flows; 6 Illicit Drug Flows; 7 Hazardous Materials Flows; 8 Infectious Disease Flows; 9 Information Disruption Flows; 10 National Hypocrisy and Deadly Transfers; 11 Crippled International Rules of the Game and the Global Playground; 12 Security Implications Turning a Playground into a Civil Community; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

National security -- International cooperation.

Security, International.

Subversive activities.

Crisis management.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

1999

Publication Information:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 1999.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
327.17 21	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Mandel's comprehensive study provides an integrated, explanatory analysis of the new global security environment, which he terms the global playground, and the consequent blossoming of ominous flows or deadly transfers. It includes an analysis of the behavior of rogue states, terrorist groups, transnational criminal organizations, and deviant individuals. Mandel begins with a discussion of the general nature of the emerging global situation and the transborder activities that occur within it, then turns to an overarching analysis of the intractable causes, pernicious consequences, and futile cures associated with these ominous transnational flows. Such activities include clandestine conventional arms, illegal human migration, illicit drugs, hazardous materials, lethal diseases, and information disruption. Both national and international organizations are fundamentally weak when it comes to dealing with such transfers.In contrast to the prevailing view that more deterrence-oriented coercion is necessary to stop these flows, this study suggests that a bottom-up approach involving changes in mass attitudes is crucial. It does not shy away from pointing directly at potential areas of security dysfunction at all levels of policy making. In taking a largely theoretical rather than case-specific approach to exploring these issues, it hopes to avoid the usual laundry list of shocking anecdotal incidents to develop a broader understanding of the new security dilemmas confronting us all. Finally, in demonstrating the futility of existing remedies and in suggesting an alternative, preliminary set of ideas to cope with these transactions, Mandel attempts to give security policy makers a wider arsenal of options from which to choose.

Author Notes

ROBERT MANDEL is Chair and Professor of International Affairs at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon./e He has written five books and numerous articles and chapters dealing primarily with security and conflict issues. He has testified before the United States Congress and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Department, and the United States Institute of Peace.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Mandel (international affairs, Lewis and Clark College) wants policy makers to pay more attention to "deadly transfers," i.e., illegal transnational crossings of weapons, migrants, drugs, hazardous materials, infectious diseases, and information disruptions. He argues that the world resembles a playground in which unruly individuals, groups, and nation-states threaten security through these six international transfers and concludes that changes in mass attitudes are the key to reducing these threats. This slim volume reads more like a think piece or a position paper than original research. Mandel depends entirely on secondary sources. Although much of the argument is sensitive to the complexities of these issues, the overall position is not convincing, in part because it is too global. The drug trade may indeed threaten the national security of Colombia, but it is hard to see how it threatens Canada or Saudi Arabia. If marijuana smokers in the US were to switch to domestic sources entirely after reading this book, would this really enhance national security? Despite looking to public opinion, he ignores the extensive literature on public attitudes relevant to his thesis. Needs editing; one sentence has 93 words. All levels. R. E. O'Connor Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus