War and the Transformation of Global Politics

Late modern wars are legitimised through invocations of humanity; variously the rescue and protection of populations, the re-shaping of entire societies, and the re-constitution of the sphere of the international into a pacified cosmopolitan arena. Drawing on critical social and political thought, this book explores the implications of this legitimisation. It argues that these wars, often referred to as 'liberal', extend forms of exclusion and domination that make war a tool of control now articulated in global terms. In highlighting the domination of contemporary politics by discourses and practices that blur distinctions between war and peace, the international and the human, Jabri points to the dangers that lie at the heart of such practices. These dangers have implications not only for the liberal democratic state, but for the emergence of a global sphere of interaction based on mutual recognition.