| ID | 078483 |
| Title Proper | Fate of Territorial Engineering |
| Other Title Information | Mechanisms of Territorial Power and Post-Liberal Forms of International Governance |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Thompson, Grahame F |
| Publication | 2007. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Does there exist a genuine threat to the continuation of a broadly liberal international (and domestic) order, driven by the re-emergence of religious and secular fundamentalisms? This article assesses this issue in the context of first the rise of territorial power and then its fate in a period of globalization and the revival of religious intolerance. The twin concepts of sovereign-power and bio-power are deployed to investigate the emergence of territorial engineering in the 17th century. A key feature of modern fundamentalisms is that they promote and trade on the deterritorialization of social, political, cultural and economic activity. It is argued that this is a manifestation of a new form of 'spirited martial power'. The risks associated with these developments should not be over-exaggerated but they exist nonetheless. If this is the case, the problem becomes one of how to re-territorialize the activities and disputes engendered by this reappearance and re-emergence of spirited martial power in the international system, with all its attendant links to religious fundamentalisms. Here the argument is that this requires a re-examination of the nature of international borders, and indeed a re-emphasis on their role, not just in respect to containing disorder and restoring the capacity for governance, but also as a way of re-configuring international toleration and of righting a wrong |
| `In' analytical Note | International Politics Vol. 44, No.5; Sep 2007: p487-512 |
| Journal Source | International Politics Vol. 44, No.5; Sep 2007: p487-512 |
| Key Words | Territorial Borders ; Tolerance ; International System ; Liberal Governance ; Sovereign-Power ; Bio-Power |