One would think the ARs police are issued would be enough firepower to run a sweep through the deserts of Arizona. Not so, as the smugglers are often employing Zetas paramilitary who have been out shooting and out maneuvering local law enforcement. Joe Arpaio is bringing out the big guns in the ever increasing escalation of hostilities on the border between U.S. law enforcement and the warlords of Northern Mexico:

From AZ Family:

There’s a war on the border, and pretending that it has to do with drug use here denies the obvious. This is the result of a “hollow state” being allowed to fester on our border and the reversion to feudal structures that characterize what John Robb calls 4th generation warfare. While Robb’s book Brave New War posits it’s the rise of technology and globalization that creates powerful non-state actors who can challenge the state monopoly on violence and thus the authority of the state, the truth is that we are seeing a re-emergence of the natural tribal structures of humanity as states become to large and diffuse to address individual needs and create individual loyalty. The rise of technology allows these non-state actors to create virtual presences in the lives of people, as well as putting them on even footing with the better trained and equipped state militaries.

The warlord run city-state is the future and nothing can stop the inevitable devolution of the world into thousands of warring factions. Preppers should plan for the eventuality of living in a area where the state permanently has only nominal control over large areas.