Fear’s Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy

What is it about?

Fear’s Empire sheds light on the issues of war, terrorism, and democracy in a rather laborious fashion which seeks not only to expose the salient features of the three, but also to synthesize them in accordance with the tenets of American foreign policy during the G. W. Bush Administration. It represents a sharp pragmatic critique of what has become known as the Bush Doctrine in American foreign policy, which basically consists of responding to fear with fear following two Machiavellian principles: It is better to be feared than loved and the end justifies the means. According to Barber, America’s counter-terrorism policy is an epitome of the dialectics of war and peace, and tyranny and democracy. It is based on the double principle of preemptive war and preventive democracy as a product, not a process. However, Barber ascertains that “preventive war and democracy are fundamentally incompatible” (p. 28).

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Why is it important?

The lesson to be drawn from 9/11 is about the inefficiencies of military power and the old doctrine of deterrence and its limits as an instrument of democratization.

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