The Small Stuff Can Be Crucial
We're often told, "Don't sweat the small stuff." However, overlooking the "small stuff" can be a critical error when it comes to national security policy. That's especially true when small details have the potential to emerge as weak links.
Every so often you run across an intriguing factoid, one of those small and seemingly random bits of information that pique interest for a variety of reasons. A few years ago, a National Public Radio report highlighted the fact that 60 percent of the world’s buttons come from one village in China. While this snippet about the humble button may barely register with some, it points to a strategic consideration we ignore at our own peril.
An astute diagnostician – be it a physician or intelligence analyst – will tell you there are no insignificant indicators. As a nation, we have a long history of viewing only the macro, while the micro is increasingly influential. Consider the catastrophic failure of the space shuttle Challenger’s system of systems. The roots of the disaster rested not in sophisticated guidance systems, communications, or human shortcomings, but in the relatively low-tech “O” rings in the booster rockets. This lesson is being demonstrated currently within the military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some time ago, many analysts stated that no nation would be foolish enough to go toe-to-toe with the United States following the first Gulf War. These words proved prophetic. A relatively inconsequential adversary, however, was been able to inflict damage on the American psyche while causing casualties and damage that have forced us to modify tactics, equipment, and goals. Consider what vulnerabilities could be exploited if a foe with significant resources and technological savvy were to engage in indirect conflict.
The question, then, becomes what components of our overarching defense, health and safety mechanisms are vulnerable to sabotage from afar? Protecting the technological underpinnings of, say, a fighter aircraft will be of little value if the rivets that hold it together fail under stress. As the adage says, the devil is in the details. The world’s supply of buttons comes not from one nation or even one province, but from a single village. The single point of failure probability is immense. Where do we buy the buttons that are key to our national defense, health and safety?