Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

"After all, America has several hundred such "lost control" areas within its own borders. We just call them Native American reservations."

Please read the comments on the site. I'm not sure who is right, but there are many commenters claiming that the zones are merely designated for special economic development, much as inner-city areas here in the US are.

I'm doing some googling right now and have found some scholarly referenecs discussing the ethnic heterogeneity of the ZUS areas. I'll post some stuff when I find more.

So these are little Saudi Arabias or Pakistans? Or are they just ethnic enclaves?

No, just more bullshit from the man that brought you Iraq. "Zone sensible urbain" means a poor, rough 'hood. That's all.

Past performance is a guide to future performance when the subject is an individual. Daniel Pipes would say anything that makes his own disaster look slightly better.

"Both unreal and prosaic. After all, America has several hundred such "lost control" areas within its own borders. We just call them Native American reservations."

Not sure what you mean here. If you mean there are jurisdictional/sovereign borders with the united States, then of course: we have fifty large states that have significant trouble reaching into each other.

Perhaps you mean there are areas of significant crime with insufficient law enforcement -- but then why single out rezes (some of which are quiet peaceful and well-off)?

Tom,

After reading some of the comments on Daniel Pipe's posting, I've been trying to verify this as well. Lots of commentators are saying these zones are areas zoned for economic development, but there is nothing so far regarding lawlessness.

Assuming Daniel is basically correct in his assumptions of ZUS, I still do not think Daniel's labeling of ZUS areas as "Dar al-Islam" applies. It would be better to call these areas "Gap Societies", as I have mentioned in my posting here:

Just as the United States and other states must take a lead in helping closing the Gap States where they remain, governments must act to close the gaps (connect “Gap Societies”) that exist within their states. This is the best path to succeed in the Long War.