Individual Initiative..... a good thing?

Two unrelated articles caught my attention in today's New York Times (am I the only person in the blogosphere who reads it before reading other blogs?), and came together to raise some difficult questions. I'm not even sure I have the question framed quite right yet, but it has to include both to be difficult (and therefore interesting). The two articles were international ones, and both were about Islamic extremism, in a way, but that's not what draws them together.

The first was about the attack on the oil compound in Saudi Arabia: not only don't we know who was behind it, the people involved don't seem to have been all that organized, but they did manage to do quite a bit of damage, kill people and mostly get away. What struck me about the attack, from the earliest reports, was how low-tech it was (a few automatic weapons, from the sound of it), and therefore how easy it would be for small independent or semi-independent groups to stage similar attacks again in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. Consider the DC Snipers: two guys, a really good rifle and a non-descript car; imagine what would have happened if there had been a dozen of them?

The second was about the expulsion from Indonesia of a woman doing research there on Islamic extremist organizations (and military human rights abuses); public statements made by Indonesian leaders charge her with spreading lies (that's the military human rights abuses part) that damage national standing, etc. Typical stuff: in spite of being a democracy, Indonesia has a long record of human rights abuses, mostly in the suppression of minority movements (East Timor being the example most people know, but Aceh is just one of the current ones), and attacks on press and speech freedoms.

Normally, this would be two separate posts: one decrying the spread of terrorism (look for the word"metastasized" to show up in the punditry shortly) and the weapons which make it possible for individuals to become terrorists and the ideologies that inspire individuals to become terrorists, and perhaps the governments who are complicit in terrorism but who don't admit it; and a second applauding Sidney Jones for her individual initiative, and insight, and unwillingness to compromise truth in the service of good to preserve some professional standing or access, and criticizing the governments that are trying to suppress the truth but hide it behind masks of pride.

But what struck me about reading the two articles together is that they are so similar. Individuals, acting in what they believe to be the greater good, uncompromising in their pursuit, aided by modern technology which makes individual efforts much more effective over much greater distances and scales, which makes them so much harder for governments (or any community, but it's governments in this case) to control. And also the way in which the governments in this case are wandering in ethical and diplomatic gray areas -- balancing the desires of their citizens with their need for control, factoring in foreign economic and political interests -- and coming up with what seem like bad answers.

Those of us who have wrestled with the demons of individualism and the angels of communitarianism (or is it the other way around?), both allied and at war with the elves of technology, know that, as H. L. Mencken said,"There's always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible, and wrong." We curse complexity, but it is what saves us from simplicity. Sure, black and white are nice, but they are so rare (and so hard to maintain); most of what seems black and white really is gray. Gray is an underrated, under-appreciated color.

With that, let me welcome Dr. Sobel to Cliopatria: it's good to have an outsider perspective come in and complicate things!

Update: If you're not reading Hala Fattah's HNN blog Askari Street, start NOW. Her latest post was a profile of the tribal leader who was just selected as President by the Iraqi Governing Council, and you won't find a better description or endorsement anywhere on the web. (Though you'll find more details on his current politics at Juan Cole's Informed Comment) Her post before that was a profile of the scholar who was just selected to be Iraq's new Minister of Higher Eduction. Great Stuff.