Monday 28 February 2011

"Liberal Militarism and the US National Security State: Revisiting the 'Liberal Moment'"

Dr Bryan Maybee, Queen Mary, University of London
Title: "Liberal Militarism and the US National Security State: Revisiting the 'Liberal Moment'"

Thursday 3rd March, 18:00-20:00, Westminster Forum, 5th Floor, 32-38 Wells Street.

All welcome; drinks and nibbles provided.

Abstract: That a ‘national security state’ was built in the post-World War II period is a commonplace characterisation of the postwar US state. While there are differing interpretations of exactly what this means, all demonstrate that the US national security state was distinctive in its particular version of militarism. The paper focuses on such claims in order to theorise specific varieties of militarism that emerged in postwar period, demonstrating that the US version was a species of militarism characterised as ‘liberal militarism’, that emerged due to a particular ideology of national security that triumphed in the postwar period. The importance of liberal militarism is not only in its external manifestations, but in how a broad ideology of national security implied a particularly liberal ordering of state and society, both internally and externally.

Bio: Dr Bryan Mabee is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Queen Mary, University of London. He is the author of 'The Globalization of Security: State Power, Security Provision and Legitimacy', and co-editor of 'Mercenaries, Pirates, Bandits and Empires: Private Violence in Historical Context'.

Organiser contact: Dr Aidan Hehir, DPIR. A.Hehir@westminster.ac.uk

No comments:

Post a Comment