Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century is a work by

Philip Bobbitt Philip Chase Bobbitt, (born July 22, 1948) is an American author, academic, and lawyer. He is best known for work on U.S. constitutional law and theory, and on the relationship between law, strategy and history in creating and sustaining the S ...

that calls for a reconceptualization of what he calls "the Wars on Terror." First published in 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. and by the Allen Lane imprint of

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

in the U.K., ''Terror and Consent'' takes as its foundation Bobbitt's grand historical theory of the co-evolution of the state and warfare which he developed in '' The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History''. The book consists of an introduction, three parts, and a conclusion. Bobbitt argues most ideas about 21st-century terrorism are mistaken, and that "the wars against terror" comprise efforts against three dangers that threaten the legitimacy of the State: 1) "global, networked terrorists"; 2) "the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction"; and 3) catastrophes natural and "nonnatural." As a historian, Bobbitt understands the contemporary problem of terrorism as part of "the transition from nation states to market states." According to an argument he developed at length in '' The Shield of Achilles'', the principle of legitimacy of the market state is "maximization of opportunities for ... civil society and citizens." It follows that protection of citizens is “the strategic raison d’être of the market state." But despite limited successes, Bobbitt does not believe that the West is winning "the Wars against Terror," in part because of a failure to rethink the relationship of

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

to law, two concepts that, in Bobbitt's view, can no longer be analyzed separately. The book's title derives from two new concepts he develops: ''States of terror'' and ''states of consent.'' Bobbitt argues that states are increasingly interdependent: "

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

, it seems, is increasingly unrealistic."

Reception

Reviewers have emphasized the sweep and originality of Bobbitt's thinking. Niall Ferguson, in the ''New York Times Book Review'', called ''Terror and Consent'' "a manifesto for a new Atlanticism" and "a reinvention of the dominant role of the trans-Atlantic alliance."

Conor Gearty Conor A. Gearty (born November 1957) is the Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE Department of Law. From 2002 to 2009, he was Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics. His academic research focuses p ...

found behind its "beguiling

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...

" traces of American exceptionalism: "many will balk at the assertion that the 'reason why the United States is not itself a terrorist state even though its warfare brings suffering and destruction to many innocent persons, including civilians, is that it acts within the law. Rebecca Seal called ''Terror and Consent'' "fascinating" and "extraordinary," and described the book as "a wide-ranging, frequently controversial and always opinionated treatise." Kenneth Anderson called it "enormous in concept and sweep," and praised its "remarkably rich strategic vision of how concretely to make war against terror, terrorists and violent jihad." More critically, the influential establishment journal ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'' warned that "Some readers will find the notion of a market state more of a caricature than a useful archetype, and scholars of international relations will wish that the book more systematically explored the implications of growing security interdependence for international cooperation."G. John Ikenberry, ''

'' (September–October 2008)
Briefly noted
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terror And Consent Books about international relations Political science books Alfred A. Knopf books 2008 non-fiction books