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

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

An awful rant for the new world order.

Give up your rights for your "safety"? This guy would have us believe the nation state is dead. The corporate elite have so devastated national economies with their so called "free trade agenda" which enabled them to search the world for the most vulnerable economies to ship your jobs to.

Are sure we want this model of corporate governance to replace nation states.

Slavery is what this academic is promoting.

Boot this shill, of the new world order, off any campus that would indoctrinate our children to give up their rights to this growing threat
of the new world order.

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Rating: - Globalist Propoganda
This book is a blatant attempt to indoctrinate the ignorant into believing that we must give up our liberty and dismantle the U.S. Constitution to be safe. This of course is an outright lie. This book is biased towards a Globalist world view and reads like it was written by someone who had the entire Bilderberg Group and Council on Foreign Relations looking over his shoulder as he was writing.

To the remaining patriots out there and those who love freedom and justice, make no mistake. Mr. Philip Bobbitt is an enemy of the American people and an enemy of freedom.

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Rating: - Read Niall Ferguson review in NYTimes 4/13
If John Robb's review sounds more like rant than review you might try the review by Niall Ferguson in the 4/13 NYTimes. I have not read the book but will assuredly be buying it today. However in perusing other reviews it appears that Mr. Robb may have scanned it just a little too fast and missed the entire idea. Best to limit the weight given to his comments untill more readers weigh in.

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Rating: - A seminal work on terror, the state, and the law
The work is sophisticated and explores, among other things, how strategy must align with the rule of law if our policies on terror are to succeed. This is a good read and well ahead of the proverbial curve. You will see the themes of this book, again and again, in the popular literature on terrorism. Enjoy!

In the first page, Professor Bobbitt introduces a broad definition of terror which includes the socially debilitating effects of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, as well as man-made disasters, including terrorism and human rights violations. This is both an accurate and elegant definition - it encompasses things that diminish the human condition; and it is a practical definition in an age of transnational threats where multi-lateral action is a necessity. "We are fighting terror, not just terrorists." I like that.

Yet how does a state effectively and legitimately pursue such policies and enact such cooperation? This question inevitably raises strategic and constitutional issues.

Professor Bobbitt's approach compels a reexamination of strategy, which includes how we organize our resources and conceptualize intervention - peaceful or otherwise - in the highly complex and uncertain environment of the 21st century. And here he makes the case that the alignment of strategy with law is absolutely essential. Our response to terror must be from the legal high ground; which, one hopes, also corresponds to the moral high ground.

I especially liked his detailed discussion of bio-terrorism and the detailed rebuttal to the International Institute for Strategic Studies Adelphi Paper - Nuclear Terrorism After 9/11. This, in conjunction with the background surrounding the A. H. Khan nuclear proliferation network, drives home the importance of a sound and multi-dimensional response to the proliferation of WMDs. Bobbitt draws on the likes of Brian Jenkins, Mary Kaldor, and Sir Michael Howard to both sustain his points and provoke argument. This is good stuff!

I have touched on one element in this brief review. There are numerous theoretical forays in this book that is rich with historical detail and anecdote, as well as legal and policy theory...much more than can be adequately summarized in a few paragraphs.

One should never judge a book by its cover; however, one can judge the credibility of the message and that of its author by looking at the citations in the back of the book. Professor Bobbitt is meticulous. There are over 100 pages of detailed footnotes; and in the text, there are often 5 or 6 citations per page! This detail is invaluable in providing a deeper and more contextually rich background to the text. Compare this level of professionalism with some of the popular literature on terrorism that, if the author is an especially generous mood, has 12 or so footnotes per Chapter.

Professor Bobbitt is "the best of the best." His work demonstrates an intellectual tradition the hallmark of which is well reasoned argument supported by detailed references and intellectual rigor. Why would you settle for anything less?

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Rating: - How to Fight Terrorism
In 2002 Philip Bobbitt authored "The Shield of Achilles." He has now come out with a 688 page work that claims that thinking on war and peace must change in light of the war on terrorism.

He separates the thinking into terror and consent. He does not close the case in this book. The jury is still out.


Author of: Mr. NewHeart (New Heart): Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond