Reimagining the National Security State
Liberalism on the Brink

A comprehensive look at the toll US government policies took on civil liberties, human rights, and the rule of law in the name of the war on terror.

Karen J. Greenberg (Edited by)

9781108484381, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 November 2019

260 pages, 1 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.8 cm, 0.51 kg

'This collection of outstanding essays makes clear that America's war on terrorism is undermining its liberal democratic traditions and institutions. Anyone who doubts the Founding Fathers' warnings about the dangers of fighting endless wars should read this important book.' John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

Reimagining the National Security State provides the first comprehensive picture of the toll that US government policies took on civil liberties, human rights, and the rule of law in the name of the war on terror. Looking through the lenses of theory, history, law, and policy, the essays in this volume illuminate the ways in which liberal democracy suffered at the hands of policymakers in the name of national security. The contributors, who are leading experts and practitioners in fields ranging from political theory to evolutionary biology, discuss the vast expansion of executive powers, the excessive reliance secrecy, and the exploration of questionable legal territory in matters of detention, criminal justice, targeted killings, and warfare. This book gives the reader an eye-opening window onto the historical precedents and lasting impact the security state has had on civil liberties, human rights and, the rule of law in the name of the war on terror.

Foreword Donald Glascoff
Part I. The National Security State: Power and Purpose in Perspective: 1. Who's checking whom? Michael J. Glennon
2. The deep state vs the failed state: illusions and realities in the pursuit of security John Gray
3. A tale of two countries: fundamental rights in the 'war on terror' Douglas Cassel
4. The national security state gone awry: returning to first principles Loch K. Johnson
Part II. Tracking the Decline: 5. The illiberal experiment: how Guantanamo became a defining American institution Michel Paradis
6. National security and court deference: ramifications and worrying trends Laura Pitter
7. The zealotry of 'terrorism' Thomas A. Durkin
8. Re-imagining the national security state: illusions and constraints – by the numbers Joshua L. Dratel
9. Beyond counterinsurgency paradigm of governing: letting go of prediction and the illusion of an internal enemy Bernard E. Harcourt
10. Re-establishing the rule of law as national security Mary Ellen O'Connell
Part III. Novel Paths Forward: 11. Rethinking the national security state from an evolutionary perspective: a reconnaissance David Sloan Wilson
12. Concluding remarks John Berger
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Human rights & civil liberties law [LNDC], International humanitarian law [LBBS], Armed conflict [JPWS], Terrorism, armed struggle [JPWL], Human rights [JPVH], Police & security services [JKSW1], Peace studies & conflict resolution [GTJ]