La guerre et l’Etat libéral démocratique

En matière de politique internationale, la guerre est une technologie de contrôle. Tandis que ses manifestations violentes comme l’invasion et l’occupation de l’Irak sont directement ressenties par les populations visées, les pratiques qui y sont associées ainsi que ladite « guerre au terrorisme » ont des effets d’une portée mondiale. Cet article offre une lecture de la guerre globale comme forme de contrôle propre à cette modernité tardive. Il montre que les pratiques qui constituent la guerre globale sont à comprendre en termes de matrice, ceci comprenant les Etats et leurs bureaucraties ainsi que des agents non étatiques, visant Etats, communautés particulières et individus. La matrice de la guerre opère au nom de l’humanité, mais c’est finalement cette même humanité qui en vient à devenir le sujet de ces opérations de contrôle global. Comme le montre l’article, les conséquences sont monumentales pour le gouvernement, l’examen démocratique et les espaces possibles de dissidence.War in late modern politics is a technology of control. While its violent manifestations, such as the invasion and occupation of Iraq, are directly felt by the population targeted, the practices associated with this and the wider so-called war against terrorism, have a far wider span of operations that encompasses spaces across the globe. This article provides an understanding of global war as a distinctly late modern form of control. It shows that the practices constitutive of global war are best understood in terms of a matrix, incorporating states and their bureaucracies as well as non-state agents, and targeting at once states, particular communities, and individuals. The matrix of war operates in the name of humanity ; however, it is ultimately this humanity as a whole that comes to be the subject of its operations of global control. The implications, as the article argues, are monumental for democratic government and the spaces available for scrutiny and dissent

Após Snowden: Repensando o Impacto da Vigilância

Revelações recentes sobre o PRISM, programa secreto da Agência de Segurança Nacional dos Estados Unidos (NSA), confirmaram a vigilância em larga escala de mensagens eletrônicas e telecomunicações de governos, empresas e cidadãos, inclusive de aliados próximos aos EUA na Europa e na América Latina. As ramificações transnacionais da vigilância pedem a reavaliação das práticas políticas do mundo contemporâneo. O debate não pode se limitar à oposição Estados Unidos e resto do mundo ou vigilância e privacidade; muito mais está em jogo. Este artigo coletivo descreve, brevemente, especificidades da vigilância cibernética em massa, incluindo a combinação de práticas de serviços de inteligência e de empresas privadas ao redor do mundo. Em seguida, investiga o impacto destas práticas em termos de segurança nacional, diplomacia, Direitos Humanos, Democracia, subjetividade e obediência.Current revelations about the secret US-NSA program, PRISM, have confirmed a large-scale mass surveillance of telecommunication and electronic messages of governments, companies, and citizens, including the United States’ closest allies in Europe and Latin America. The transnational ramifications of surveillance call for a re-evaluation of contemporary world politics practices. The debate cannot be limited to the United States versus the rest of the world or to surveillance versus privacy; much more is at stake. This collective article briefly describes the specificities of cyber mass surveillance, including its mix of practices of intelligence services and those of private companies providing services around the world. It then investigates the impact of these practices on national security, diplomacy, Human Rights, Democracy, subjectivity and obedience

Após Snowden: Repensando o Impacto da Vigilância

Revelações recentes sobre o PRISM, programa secreto da Agência de Segurança Nacional dos Estados Unidos (NSA), confirmaram a vigilância em larga escala de mensagens eletrônicas e telecomunicações de governos, empresas e cidadãos, inclusive de aliados próximos aos EUA na Europa e na América Latina. As ramificações transnacionais da vigilância pedem a reavaliação das práticas políticas do mundo contemporâneo. O debate não pode se limitar à oposição Estados Unidos e resto do mundo ou vigilância e privacidade; muito mais está em jogo. Este artigo coletivo descreve, brevemente, especificidades da vigilância cibernética em massa, incluindo a combinação de práticas de serviços de inteligência e de empresas privadas ao redor do mundo. Em seguida, investiga o impacto destas práticas em termos de segurança nacional, diplomacia, Direitos Humanos, Democracia, subjetividade e obediência.Current revelations about the secret US-NSA program, PRISM, have confirmed a large-scale mass surveillance of telecommunication and electronic messages of governments, companies, and citizens, including the United States’ closest allies in Europe and Latin America. The transnational ramifications of surveillance call for a re-evaluation of contemporary world politics practices. The debate cannot be limited to the United States versus the rest of the world or to surveillance versus privacy; much more is at stake. This collective article briefly describes the specificities of cyber mass surveillance, including its mix of practices of intelligence services and those of private companies providing services around the world. It then investigates the impact of these practices on national security, diplomacy, Human Rights, Democracy, subjectivity and obedience

Repenser l’impact de la surveillance après l’affaire Snowden : sécurité nationale, droits de l’homme, démocratie, subjectivité et obéissance

Les révélations autour des programmes secrets de la NSA ont confirmé l’existence d’une surveillance de grande envergure de nos communications par les autorités gouvernementales américaines, qui touche également les pays alliés des États-Unis en Europe et en Amérique latine. Les ramifications transnationales de la surveillance nous invitent à ré-examiner les pratiques contemporaines des affaires internationales. Le débat ne se limite pas aux relations des États-Unis avec le reste du monde, ni à la surveillance et à la vie privée : il est beaucoup plus large. Cet article collectif décrit les spécificités de la cyber-surveillance, y compris les pratiques hybrides des services de renseignement et des compagnies privées de télécommunications. Il analyse ensuite les impacts de ses pratiques sur la sécurité nationale, la diplomatie, les droits de l’homme, la démocratie, la subjectivité et l’obéissance.Current revelations about the secret US-NSA program, PRISM, have confirmed the large-scale mass surveillance of the telecommunication and electronic messages of governments, companies, and citizens, including the United States’ closest allies in Europe and Latin America. The transnational ramifications of surveillance call for a re-evaluation of contemporary world politics’ practices. The debate cannot be limited to the United States versus the rest of the world or to surveillance versus privacy; much more is at stake. This collective article briefly describes the specificities of cyber mass surveillance, including its mix of the practices of intelligence services and those of private companies providing services around the world. It then investigates the impact of these practices on national security, diplomacy, human rights, democracy, subjectivity, and obedience

Mapping the nexus of transitional justice and peacebuilding

This paper explores the convergences and divergence between transitional justice and peace-building, by considering some of the recent developments in scholarship and practice. We examine the notion of ‘peace’ in transitional justice and the idea of ‘justice’ in peacebuilding. We highlight that transitional justice and peacebuilding often engage with similar or related ideas, though the scholarship on in each field has developed, largely, in parallel to each other, and of-ten without any significant engagement between the fields of inquiry. We also note that both fields share other commonalities, insofar as they often neglect questions of capital (political, social, economic) and at times, gender. We suggest that trying to locate the nexus in the first place draws attention to where peace and justice have actually got to be produced in order for there not to be conflict and violence. This in turn demonstrates that locally, ‘peace’ and ‘justice’ do not always look like the ‘peace’ and ‘justice’ drawn up by international donors and peace-builders; and, despite the ‘turn to the local’ in international relations, it is surprising just how many local and everyday dynamics are (dis)missed as sources of peace and justice, or potential avenues of addressing the past

Book review: liberty and security

Drawing on scholarship in law, human rights and political science, this book considers how proclamations of universal liberty and security are mocked by the vast inequalities in supposedly free societies, the authoritarian regimes with regular elections, and the terrible socio–economic deprivation camouflaged by cynically proclaimed commitments to human rights. Conor Gearty′s book seeks to offer an explanation of how this has come about, providing also a criticism of the present age which tolerates it. This brilliantly conceived book enables readers to interrogate afresh the promise of democracy in delivering the potentiality of the universal as a regulative ideal, writes Vivienne Jabri