In 1998, the band Rage Against the Machine decried "the thin line between entertainment and war." Today, even that thin line is in danger of vanishing.

Funny, I can't say I ever thought of Rage as a particularly peaceful band.

Through video games, the military and its partners in academia and the entertainment industry are creating an arm of media culture geared toward preparing young Americans for armed conflict. From "Rogue Spear" and "America's Army" to "Raven Shield" and "SOCOM II", with more to come, the military has embraced entertainment titles at the same time the entertainment industry has embraced the military.

It's also possible that I only recently started paying attention.

With military spending budgeted at nearly $400 billion in 2004, a video game industry generating more than $10 billion a year, a transnational entertainment and media industry with annual revenues of some $479 billion, and no public outcry over the militarization of popular culture, the future of such collaborations seems assured.

It's going to be big, big, big! Act now! Operators are standing by! (Do I get extra credit for using the word "transnational" in my essay?)

We need to start analyzing the effects of blurring the lines between war and entertainment.

I mean, I really need to graduate. Have you got a better thesis idea?

Online, SOCOM II has players competing against each other for promotions and encourages them to form gang-like "clans", roaming the electronic halls in search of a good fight. A player can even take on the role of an RPG-armed terrorist!

Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!