Other Non-State Agents and Geopolitical Codes

Two questions Flint brings forth:

1. Do non-state geopolitical agents have geopolitical codes?
2. Is the concept of geopolitical code useful in understanding the actions of non-state agents?

After reading Flint’s account of Osama bin Laden’s 1998 statement in the London-based Arabic language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, how would you answer the following regarding al-Qaeda’s geopolitical code?

1. Who are our current and potential allies?
2. Who are our current and potential enemies?
3. How can we maintain our allies and nurture potential allies?
4. How can we counter our current enemies and emerging threats?
5. How do we justify the four calculations above to our public, and to the global community?

It is clear that it is not just state actors that have geopolitical codes, but other organized groups such as al-Qaeda do as well. However, Flint asks us to go a little bit deeper to really parse out who are today's geopolitical actors. He explains, “Insurgents would seem to be a case where a geopolitical code is a useful tool to identify whom they are fighting and cooperating with, through what means, and for what reasons. However, are pirates and organized crime syndicates just out to make money and hence not in need of the strategy and representations that are the content of a geopolitical code?”

Further, what about non-state actors that are not necessarily violent? Can a social or environmental movement or organization have a geopolitical code?