CERN isn't experiencing troubles from radical religious factions, and implementing a similar program for the NIF should not be too different. In terms of a more global perspective, resource management is becoming the next important issue (although yes, I know that it is not the only one) and people will begin to gravitate away from such radical religious groups once it becomes evident that such fanaticism is not going to effect the international cooperation needed. This is what happened during African decolonization and during the end of the Cold War: when an ideology outlives its usefulness, it will begin to die out, as Keynesian economics is beginning to do here in the US.

I think we've moved past the old Cold War era modus operandi: nuclear weapons are no longer necessary nor considered as an indicator of power. Military spending in that area has decreased drastically since the Reagan era. Essentially, we've reached a point where "kick[ing] each others ass as best as we can afford" is no longer a profitable venture and is, in fact, a great way to lose the economic support and favor of the international community. What we need is some CERN-scale collaboration on this so that we can possibly help to alleviate the energy strains on the global populace.

because then we'd have Carol Browner on everybody's back about people stealing NIF technology for the purpose of getting energy in this crisis of ours. I hope that with the current budget we'll be able to keep up funding for this potentially fruitful venture...shows more promise than ethanol ever did.