“Super-empowered Individuals” and World Politics

In Chapter 6, your text states, “Private individuals, independent of any official role, may by virtue of circumstances, skills, or resources carry out independent actions in international relations” (p. 147). Examples of such individuals include Bill Gates, Jimmy Carter, Armand Hammer, Ross Perot, Jane Fonda, Aziza Hussein, and George Soros. In a similar fashion, the political observer and columnist Thomas Friedman labels such people “Super-empowered individuals” and argues that they have become increasingly important in a globalizing world. In this exercise you will search for evidence of such Super-empowered individuals and reflect on their power, role, and impact on world politics.

The National Security Planning Group, a high-level foreign policy planning council of the U.S. government, is conducting a long-term assessment of U.S. foreign policy strategy and interests. The issues they are considering include an assessment of which actors in world politics are likely to play an important role in future world politics. There is a dispute among the members of the council. Some believe that states and actors associated with states or governments are the only ones of any serious importance. Others consider private individuals to be important players as well. As a noted expert on world politics, you have been asked by the chairperson of the council to attend the next meeting and make a short presentation on the potential influence of private individuals – those without official roles in government. You decide to tie your presentation to some current events in order to make it more concrete for the members of the council.

I. Context and Concepts. Review an important and potentially helpful passage from Thomas Friedman’s The Lexus and the Olive Tree ( New York: Anchor Books, 2000):

Because globalization has brought down many of the walls that limited the movement and reach of people, and because it has simultaneously wired the world into networks, it gives more power to individuals to influence both markets and nation-states than at any time in history. Individuals can increasingly act on the world stage directly—unmediated by a state. So . . . you now have Super-empowered individuals. Some of these Super-empowered individuals are quite angry, some of them quite wonderful—but all of them are now able to act directly on the world stage.

Without the knowledge of the U.S. government, Long-Term Capital Management—a few guys with a hedge fund in Greenwich, Connecticut—amassed more financial bets around the world than all the foreign reserves in China. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire with his own global network, declared war on the United States in the 1990s. . . . Jody Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her contribution to the international ban on land mines. She achieved that ban not only without much government help, but in the face of opposition from all the major powers. And what did she say was her secret weapon for organizing 1,000 different human rights and arms control groups on six continents? “Email.” (p. 14)

II. Super-empowered Individuals. Search for current examples of Super-empowered individuals (not already identified in your text or by Friedman) to use as illustrations of the potential influence such people can and do have.

• Searching the Web sites of reputable periodicals, build a list of at least five Super-empowered individuals active and influential in world politics (without official roles in government) who are currently in the news. Good starting points would include the New York Times (www.nytimes.com), the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com), the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com), the Boston Herald (www.bostonherald.com), Time Magazine (www.time.com), Newsweek Magazine (www.newsweek.com), U.S. News and World Report (www.usnews.com), the Economist (www.economist.com), The New Republic (www.tnr.com), and/or the National Review (www.nationalreview.com).
• For each individual you select, provide the following information.

Person	Issue or Circumstance	Skills	Resources	Role	Impact

III. Analysis and Conclusions. Use your text and the evidence you have gathered to provide your analysis and conclusions, organizing them around a few sentences on each of the following questions:

• What skills and resources do Super-empowered individuals generally have?
• What influence and impact do Super-empowered individuals generally have?
• What limits the role and influence of Super-empowered individuals?
• What are the implications of the activities and potential influence of Super-empowered individuals in world politics?

IV. The chairperson of the National Security Planning Group wishes to provide a handout for each member of the council, so she has asked you to prepare a written copy of your evidence and analysis.