Fighting Monsters: British-American War-making and Law-making

(Hardback)

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Against the backdrop of the British-American law- and war-making of the first decade of the millennium, Fighting Monsters considers how the way we think about law affects the way we make war and how the way we think about war affects the way we make law. The discussion is founded upon four of the martial phenomena (aggressive or 'pre-emptive' war, targeted killings, torture and arbitrary detention) that unsettle our complacent and flabby understandings of what law is to a liberal democracy. The author argues, first, that force is a quintessential albeit ambivalent element of any realistic, serviceable and intellectually coherent concept of law. Second, reappraising the classic question at the intersection of martial doctrine and political philosophy in its contemporary context, the author asserts that we need not, in fighting monsters, become monstrous ourselves; that fighting partisans does not entail our own partisanship; and that we can indeed govern without dirtying our hands. Seeking to ground a total, essentialist and practical theory of legality's sordid relationship with brutality, the book encompasses language and image; war and crime; liberty, security and rationality; amity, enmity and identity; sex, terror and perversion; temporality, spirituality and sublimity; economy and hegemony; parliaments, the press and the public man.

Reviews

'Fighting Monsters makes an important and provocative contribution, by encouraging us to revisit our understanding of the nature of law and its role in combating barbarism." Philippe Sands QC, Professor of Law, University College London; Author of Lawless World and Torture Team 'An exceptional piece of work...deep, broad, rich, original, compelling, and much more.' Martin Scheinin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Professor of Public International Law, European University Institute 'The author presents a multi-thematic approach to the question of how to counter post 9-11 terrorism by developing a variety of original reflections and perspectives on the inadequacy of law in addressing the barbarity of terrorism as well as the degenerative effects of the response to it. The result is a relentless indictment of the legal response to terrorism, especially by the two leading countries in the enterprise, the United States and the United Kingdom.' Professor Francesco Francioni Professor of International Law, European University Institute 'The intellectual energy and pugnacious style of the text make for a tour de force.' Philip Allott Emeritus Professor of Public International Law, Trinity College, Cambridge

Author Bio

Rory Brown was a Russell Vick Prize Winner at Jesus College, Cambridge, an Erasmus Scholar at Regensburg University, Germany, a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, New York City, and received his Doctorate from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He is a barrister, a member of Inner Temple, and currently practises from 9 Stone Buildings Chambers, Lincoln's Inn, London.