Over the past week we’ve managed to view the trilogy of Bourne films (The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)), a cracking good adventure series. The films, loosely based on Robert Ludlum’s novels (with the same titles), follow the adventures of a brainwashed CIA trained assassin whose original personality (and ethics), as they reassert themselves, turn him into a poacher-turned-gamekeeper. A few years back, two management theorists produced a learned paper about the effect of assassinations on institutions and war. Their study seemed to indicate that, in their words, ‘successful removal of autocrats produce(s) sustained moves towards democracy.’ By coincidence, the original personality and ethics of the Jason Bourne character in the trilogy first reassert themselves as he is about to assassinate an autocrat (retired). Ever since I found myself out on a Scottish hillside accompanying a stag hunt I have wondered why they go to all the bother of frogsuits and disguises. Frederick Forsyth got it right. I’ll never forget the sight of a stag jerking and collapsing and his companions looking on in puzzlement before then panicking and dashing away; the bullet had reached the stag long before the sound of the shot. A quick look on wiki confirmed that today’s high velocity sniper rifles can have an effective range of up to two kilometres…