Transnational threats have been exacerbated by at least two trends of the 20th century: the increased rate and degree of human mobility and the increased rate and degree of individual access to goods, services, and technology on a global scale. These trends have served the expansion of infectious diseases, environmental degradation, the drug trade, transnational criminal organizations, and the arms trade. National security policy must change to reflect the changing nature of the threats that challenge states' vital interests. To respond effectively, national security policymakers must take three steps in a new direction. First, they must clarify the types and severity of threats and assign priorities among objectives. Second, they must resist the temptation of associating transnational threats with specific states; instead, they must analyze the global webs that enable and sustain transnational threats and identify pressure points and pivotal actors within them. Third, they must respond to these transnational threats in kind by mobilizing resources and developing strategies that take advantage of the incentives, opportunities, and capabilities created by the technological web that has knit the world into a new era of threat and opportunity. 16 notes