Dear all, please find attached an interesting English article from the German online journal "Telepolis" on how "turning paranoia into profits". It seems of particular interest for the European members of this list - whether old, new or star-spangled blue. Best regards, Eric ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fear Factor John Horvath 26.08.2004 European Security Research Programme: The business side to the war on terror In the beginning of August, the Department of Homeland Security in the US raised its terror alert from yellow (elevated) to orange (high), meaning there is a high risk of a terror attack. As a result, armed police with machine guns stood at barricades in front of designated buildings in places like New York and Washington. Not only are many Americans confused by the alert system established in the wake of 9/11 -- namely the various colour schemes and what they entail -- but many have also grown weary of the repeated warnings. Indeed, the reaction to the August alert was one of skepticism, in that it was widely suspected that the Bush administration used the terror alert for political advantage. Such skepticism subsequently gained a measure of credibility as it later emerged that much of the intelligence that the terror alert was based on was dated -- up to three years old. Tom Ridge, the head of Homeland Security, simply responded by saying that although the intelligence may have been dated, his department only recently received it. A new mega-industry of fear is emerging While this latest political fiasco in the US can be said to be symptomatic of the Bush administration, it goes without saying that politicians the world over have been, in one way or another, also taking advantage of the recent wave of fear generated by the war on terror (as opposed to the terror itself). In many ways, it's a replication of the Cold War, the only exception being that the "enemy" isn't a recognised state power. This, in turn, makes this second Cold War ambiguous and one with potentially no end in sight. While many are aware of the political implications to the war on terror, few realise how governments and big business have been turning paranoia into profits. A new mega-industry has emerged, and many governments are now turning their attention -- and money -- to it. Because threats are supposedly very fluid and unpredictable in today's world, security is regarded as not purely a military matter, but one which requires the pooling of resources -- intelligence, police, judicial, economic, financial, scientific, and diplomatic -- all under the umbrella of modern technology. Consequently, with the increasing flexibility and complexity of modern technology, many new discoveries inevitably span both civilian and military fields. In other words, a device originally developed for security purposes could have commercial spin-offs. It's this potential for developing dual-purpose killer-apps which have governments and big business ploughing funds into the fear industry. European security research As a result, in Europe a coherent strategy has been developed to coordinate all military and civilian research across the European Union (EU). This includes a billion-euro boost in research spending for security-related projects. Accordingly, EU member states will have their their security systems harmonised to create a single EU-wide security structure. This means networks to exchange information and run EU-wide crisis-management operations will be set up in addition to the coordination of all military, security, and civilian research. If all goes according to plan, a fully-fledged European Security Research Programme (ESRP) should be up and running in the EU by 2007. Unlike other research programmes adopted by the EU, this one would see governments more financially involved. The rationale for this is that since some of this research must be geared to government requirements and cannot be adapted for commercial use, up to 100% government funding may be needed. Moreover, in order not to be left behind, the ESRP's budget should match that of the Department of Homeland Security in the US. This would necessitate giving security research in the EU a boost of 1 billion euro per year. As with the defense industry, the fear industry is generally seen by pundits as good for industrial growth and the economy. Not only this, it's one of the few avenues of corporate welfare still left open to big business. What is more, with the increased sense of insecurity being peddled by politicians, it looks set to grow even further as technology is relied upon to detect and "neutralise" an increasing array of potential security threats. For the European Commission (EC) in particular, it's hoped that with its research experience and expertise in other fields such pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and telecommunications, Europe will be able to soon develop a top-class security system that it can then sell to governments elsewhere. In order to get things moving for this new security programme, the EU General Affairs Council already agreed back in November 2003 to create an agency to promote research for future defense needs. Its remit was to set up rules and procedures and build networks between sponsors, companies, research centers, and "customers" in the run-up to the launch of the ESRP. The ultimate aim is to nurture technologies that could have both civilian and military uses. Consequently, at the end of June this year a preparatory action was launched by the EC, resulting in a submission of around 175 proposals. Just over 70% of the proposals relate to technical mission-related research projects, addressing a wide range of security topics such as situation awareness, protection of networked systems, protecting against terrorism, crisis management, and interoperability. The remaining proposals relate to supporting activities such as studies on security research road maps, identification of critical areas and understanding human factors, as well as technical feasibility studies, awareness, and best practice activities. The proposals were submitted from a variety of sources. It should come as no surprise that large industry was well represented (including the aeronautics, information and communications technology, system integrators, and defense sectors). Most proposals originated from the EU-15, but the EC also points to "important participation" from the new member states of Central and Eastern Europe. Security technology produces new problems and binds resources Although the EC considers the preparatory action a relative success, if the EU wishes to eventually fund the full version of the ESRP, many existing research programmes will have to pay in terms of decreased support and slashed budgets; others may have to be abandoned altogether. In order to justify such a drastic move, the EC's response is simple: current research planning fails to promote dual purpose technologies, thereby missing out on some of the potential industrial innovations that could bring benefits across the board. Despite the promises of more security, on the one hand, and economic growth, on the other, what is missing in the overall equation are the people in the middle -- the citizenry -- who are supposed to gain an increased sense of security. Unfortunately, much of what is proposed is actually quite controversial as there are unresolved issues of privacy and confidentiality which must be dealt with first. Take, for instance, the notion of "information fusion". Information fusion basically means the collection and collation of data from many sources in order to yield intelligence. Examples include gathering information from sources such as telephone calls, hotel registrations, and airline bookings to identify individuals who may pose a terrorist threat, or analysing hospital admissions and sales of pharmaceuticals to warn of an unfolding biological attack. The problem here is that the distinction between "work as prescribed" and "work as practised" is frequently overlooked. Another concern is that this massive security programme is being developed not so much as to guard against terrorist attack, but to suppress domestic opposition, such as the anti-globalisation movement. For many heads of government, there is little distinction between terrorism and protest. Indeed, some have even gone so far as to categorise protesters as terrorists. Rather than concentrating on the symptoms of terror using state-of-the-art security systems -- which in a few years will be redundant anyway as those bent on wreaking havoc will use either new technology or the innovative application of so-called "primitive" methods -- more effort and resources should be put into dealing with its underlying causes. International terrorism, organised crime, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are the three greatest fears Europeans have, this according to a recent EU poll. In particular, the set of threats governments the world over face are energy insecurity, nuclear proliferation, poverty, drought, and failed states. Given this, it's quite apparent that the problems facing the world today have more to do with the politics of colonialism and imperialism than with the need for a more robust security apparatus. Links Telepolis Artikel-URL: http://www.telepolis.de/english/inhalt/te/18187/1.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1996-2004. All Rights Reserved. Alle Rechte vorbehalten Heise Zeitschriften Verlag, Hannover