OP-ED: “A Port in the Storm Over Dubai: Use the fight to put in place a container inspection system,” by Stephen E. Flynn and James M. Loy, New York Times, 28 February 2006, p. A19.

In general, a good counter-argument on the Dubai controversy from former head of the Coast Guard (Loy) and America’s best-known Cassandra on port security (Flynn).

They point out that, “since January 2005, every container entering the truck gates of two of the world’s busiest container terminals, in Hong Kong, has passed through scanning and radiation detection devices” in what I would describe as yet another example of the New Core setting the new rules.

So why not take advantage and mandate that such scrutiny be applied to everything coming to America? By setting this new global standard, and hopefully helping less rich countries around the world achieve it by directing foreign aid to help them make the necessary investments, we make ourselves safer, the world safer, and we help bring Gap states a little bit closer to the Core.

To me, this would be a great example of Development-in-a-Box: we’ll give you the capacity for greater connectivity in exchange for greater transparency that makes us all safer.

And yeah, Enterra Solutions will help you automate all the rule sets attached to this process, which would probably reduce transaction costs to the point where the author’s proposed security tax on all containers wouldn’t be needed.

This is no necessary trade-off between heightened security and increased efficiency, we argue at Enterra, in what I would describe as the military-market nexus in it’s most elegant expression.