Rebuttal to Michael Craig's "Weak Nations' Pose Greatest Threat"

On April of 2009, Michael Kraig, director of Policy Analysis and Dialogue at the Stanley Foundation in Muscatine, Iowa, released a controversial article titled, “Weak Nations Pose Greatest Threat”, instigated by a pirating off the coast of Somalia. Kraig furthers in his article that the world is undergoing a dramatic ideological, political, international and economic transformation. Kraig claims that the United States’ new political and economic “threats” stem from a new source; failed states such as Somalia, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Nigeria, as opposed to conventional superpowers such as Russia, China, Japan, or the former Soviet Union. Kraig backs his claim by citing multiple civil conflicts that indirectly effect oil prices and our economic way of life in addition to the threat of small arms and a future attack on the homeland. Initially, it is noticed that Michael Kraig has numerous fallacies in his argument that failed states pose a greater threat to the U.S. than stable nations, for one he doesn’t recognize that the threats he cites can be traced to stable nations. Many of the nations Kraig cites, including terrorist organizations are funded and supplied by Russia and China. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia and China sell arms to every single nation the United States labels as a “Rogue State” or “State Sponsor of Terrorism”. Furthermore, the Congressional Research Service on August 25, 2005, listed multiple dubious transactions involving Russia, including “Russia signing an agreement with Iran to finish construction of the Bushehr nuclear power reactor, a transaction worth $800 million or more”, in 1995. Additionally, in 1996, “reports surfaced of Russian entities providing ballistic missile assistance to Iran, including training; testing and laser equipment; materials; guidance, rocket engine, and fuel technology; machine tools; and maintenance manuals”, according to the CRS. What Kraig has to realize is that if these small arms and missile technology transactions were eliminated between Russia, China, and U.S. enemies, then the threat would be greatly diminished or eliminated completely. Secondly, Kraig does not touch on the point of oil price manipulation by OPEC, stable nations. As citizens, we constantly recognize the burden of paying for gas, especially when the prices have gradually increased over the past decade, but this “manipulation” is caused by stable nations involved in OPEC, or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. According to the Economist, OPEC accounts for 80% of the world’s oil reserves but only 40% of the world’s oil, making the U.S. highly dependent on other countries for a nonrenewable, vital resource, which can be a major political issue. Business Insider reports that “if OPEC members produced oil and sold like non-OPEC members, ie. equivalent to its actual reserves, then world production would be vastly higher, and oil prices wouldn't be near peak real price levels, especially right after a global economic crisis.” To conclude, Michael Kraig’s article “Weak Nations Pose Greatest Threat,” makes certain claims and links that cannot be supported by hardcore evidence. Furthermore, Kraig makes indirect links without doing research on whose funding and supplying our enemies. Kraig also does not mention how weak nations harm our economy dramatically, while other “stable” nations have the United States on a leash trough way of oil manipulation and price inflation.