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Terror and Consent : The Wars for the Twenty-First Century
by: Philip Bobbitt

List Price: $35.00

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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.320973
EAN: 9781400042432
ISBN: 1400042437
Label: Knopf
Manufacturer: Knopf
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 688
Publication Date: April 01, 2008
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date: April 01, 2008
Studio: Knopf
Sales Rank: 5423

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:

An urgent reconceptualization of the Wars on Terror from the author of The Shield of Achilles (“magisterial”— The New York Times, “a classic for future generations”—The New York Review of Books). In this book Philip Bobbitt brings together historical, legal, and strategic analyses to understand the idea of a “war on terror.” Does it make sense? What are its historical antecedents? How would such a war be “won”? What are the appropriate doctrines of constitutional and international law for democracies in such a struggle?

He provocatively declares that the United States is the chief cause of global networked terrorism because of overwhelming American strategic dominance. This is not a matter for blame, he insists, but grounds for reflection on basic issues. We have defined the problem of winning the fight against terror in a way that makes the situation virtually impossible to resolve. We need to change our ideas about terrorism, war, and even victory itself.

Bobbitt argues that the United States has ignored the role of law in devising its strategy, with fateful consequences, and has failed to reform law in light of the changed strategic context. Along the way he introduces new ideas and concepts—Parmenides’ Fallacy, the Connectivity Paradox, the market state, and the function of terror as a by-product of globalization—to help us prepare for what may be a decades-long conflict of which the battle against al Qaeda is only the first instance.

At stake is whether we can maintain states of consent in the twenty-first century or whether the dominant constitutional order will be that of states of terror. Challenging, provocative, and insightful, Terror and Consent addresses the deepest themes of governance, liberty, and violence. It will change the way we think about confronting terror—and it will change the way we evaluate public policies in that struggle.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Transformational
Terror and Consent : The Wars for the Twenty-First Century

This book is beyond question the most illuminating discourse on the subject I can imagine. The thinking is clear and yet very expansive and the subject is of urgent concern to every citizen of the world. I believe that only those who are blinded by religiously held preconceptions will fail to be transformed by this amazing book. So many myths with which we pupulate our contemporary thought and discussions are demolished that it would be pointless to list them. It is worth reading all the reviews, as there is a clear trend for the negative review to display firm adherence to some of these myths. I leave it to other readers to judge themselves, but for me, the positives are vast and the negatives are puny jealousies ... Read More

Rating:

- Terror and Consent
I find Dr. Bobbitt rather wordy and repetitive. He does not clearly (to me) define what a market state is. He doesn't (as far as I know) distinguish a MAJOR difference between the market and nation state: the ability of the nation state to tax. The ramifications of of this oversight could possibly knock down many of the thesis proposed. This my main problem with the book so far.

Rating:

- Outstanding analysis of the relationship between the liberal state and jihadist terror
Philip Bobbitt's Terror and Consent is a big book, enormous in concept, ambition, and sweep, full of portent for transnational politics in the twenty-first century. Portentousness in a book can be a good thing, provided it delivers as promised. This brilliant, polymathic book delivers more intellectual punch on the fraught relationship between state and society, terrorism and terrorists, than any book I know. Let me simply adopt Niall Ferguson's judgment, on the front page of the New York Times Book Review, calling Terror and Consent the "most profound book on the subject of American foreign policy since the attacks of 9/11 - indeed, since the end of the cold war."

Not everyone feels this way; one indicator of the book's intrinsic interest is the volatility of the reviews. ... Read More

Rating:

- Analysis of issues strategic, legal, moral; comprehensive, sober, informed, logical
Bobbitt follows The Shield of Achilles with Terror and Consent : The Wars for the Twenty-First Century. The Shield of Achilles is a work for the ages; Terror and Consent is a work for our time, seen in the light of the ages.

In the previous book Bobbitt cast new light on the linkage between a State's ways of war and peace and its self-image and history. These evolve together according to a State's needs for survival and the challenges it faces. "The State is born in violence," writes Bobbitt, and the first things it must do are secure a monopoly on internal violence so that it may rule and secure a monopoly on external violence so that it may act strategically towards its ends. He traces the development, from Machiavelli's Italy to the present, of five successive forms of the ... Read More

Rating:

- Provocative and Problematic
Phillip Bobbitt has a big idea with many consequences. Terror is not just the result of acts of terrorists; it includes the acts of mercenaries, pirates, resistance movements, and Mother Nature (e.g., earthquakes and floods). States are not just nation-states; Al Qaeda is a State. War is not just war; pursuing narcotics traffickers or Terror is also war.

In Terror and Consent, Bobbitt wishes to fundamentally change the way we think about the problem of security in the new century. His prescriptions would have significant impact: changing the balance of powers among the branches of government, extensive "reform" of laws and regulations including more extensive surveillance, modified distinctions between internal and external security, and fundamental changes in the missions and powers ... Read More

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