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The Divided West
Make no mistake, the normative authority of the United States of America lies in ruins. Such is the judgment of the most influential thinker in Europe today reflecting on the political repercussions of the war in Iraq. The decision to go to war in Iraq, without the explicit backing of a Security Council Resolution, opened up a deep fissure in the West which continues to divide erstwhile allies and to hinder the attempt to develop a coordinated response to the new threats posed by international terrorism.
In this timely and important volume, Jürgen Habermas responds to the dramatic political events of the period since September 11, 2001, and maps out a way to move the political agenda forward, beyond the acrimonious debates that have pitched opponents of the war against the Bush Administration and its coalition of the willing. What is fundamentally at stake, argues Habermas, is the Kantian project of overcoming the state of nature between states through the constitutionalization of international law.
Habermas develops a detailed multidimensional model of transnational and supranational governance inspired by Kantian cosmopolitanism, situates it in the context of the evolution of international law toward a cosmopolitan constitutional order during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and defends it against the new challenge posed by the hegemonic liberal vision underlying the aggressive unilateralism of the current US administration.
The Divided West is a major intervention by one of the most highly regarded political thinkers of our time. It will be essential reading for students of sociology, politics, international relations, and international law, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the current and future course of European and international politics.
In this timely and important volume, Jürgen Habermas responds to the dramatic political events of the period since September 11, 2001, and maps out a way to move the political agenda forward, beyond the acrimonious debates that have pitched opponents of the war against the Bush Administration and its coalition of the willing. What is fundamentally at stake, argues Habermas, is the Kantian project of overcoming the state of nature between states through the constitutionalization of international law.
Habermas develops a detailed multidimensional model of transnational and supranational governance inspired by Kantian cosmopolitanism, situates it in the context of the evolution of international law toward a cosmopolitan constitutional order during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and defends it against the new challenge posed by the hegemonic liberal vision underlying the aggressive unilateralism of the current US administration.
The Divided West is a major intervention by one of the most highly regarded political thinkers of our time. It will be essential reading for students of sociology, politics, international relations, and international law, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the current and future course of European and international politics.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Jürgen Habermas
378 books695 followersJürgen Habermas is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and American pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his work on the concept of the public sphere, the topic of his first book entitled The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. His work focuses on the foundations of social theory and epistemology, the analysis of advanced capitalistic societies and democracy, the rule of law in a critical social-evolutionary context, and contemporary politics—particularly German politics. Habermas's theoretical system is devoted to revealing the possibility of reason, emancipation, and rational-critical communication latent in modern institutions and in the human capacity to deliberate and pursue rational interests.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 8, 2010
In The Divided West, Habermas writes as a European intellectual staking out a path forward in the post-9/11 world, not in the technical language of his political philosophy and epistemology. He lays out the theoretical foundation of an alternative to US unilateralism and theocratic totalitarianism.
Habermas writes eloquently of the pedigree of the Kantian vector of cosmopolitan thought and its evolutes, and draws on these traditions to elucidate a concept of international law based on reason and consensus. It's hard to be unmoved by the moral worth of investment in the rational internationalism of the European Enlightenment. What serious alternative do we have, assuming one does not accept the odious exceptionalism that pervades the US policy of preemptive adventurism, which draws legitimacy solely from the power to wage war?
But, as is so often the case, the devil is in the details. Peering outside the walls of theory, we can see that in the decade following the 9/11 shift in geopolitics, Europe has done a poor job of investing the necessary human, military, and financial resources to intervene in Central Asia and the Middle East through NATO and the UN. Perhaps the European powers are alienated from participating in a geopolitical arena dominated by an arrogant and antagonistic US, but in so doing they've begun to abdicate their role in forging a common global destiny in the liberal model.
If Europe is serious in following the lead set forth by Habermas, member states of the EU should revitalize their participation in the UN and meet the minimum staffing and funding requirements dictated by NATO membership. Until then, the European intellectual tradition will have rational and moral authority, but little practical role.
Habermas writes eloquently of the pedigree of the Kantian vector of cosmopolitan thought and its evolutes, and draws on these traditions to elucidate a concept of international law based on reason and consensus. It's hard to be unmoved by the moral worth of investment in the rational internationalism of the European Enlightenment. What serious alternative do we have, assuming one does not accept the odious exceptionalism that pervades the US policy of preemptive adventurism, which draws legitimacy solely from the power to wage war?
But, as is so often the case, the devil is in the details. Peering outside the walls of theory, we can see that in the decade following the 9/11 shift in geopolitics, Europe has done a poor job of investing the necessary human, military, and financial resources to intervene in Central Asia and the Middle East through NATO and the UN. Perhaps the European powers are alienated from participating in a geopolitical arena dominated by an arrogant and antagonistic US, but in so doing they've begun to abdicate their role in forging a common global destiny in the liberal model.
If Europe is serious in following the lead set forth by Habermas, member states of the EU should revitalize their participation in the UN and meet the minimum staffing and funding requirements dictated by NATO membership. Until then, the European intellectual tradition will have rational and moral authority, but little practical role.
January 4, 2021
This is still part of my foray into Habermas's world. I thought it was still very conversational, that is, trying to push for a certain agenda, than it is to tell us what his agenda is. I'm still largely unconvinced by his politics although it sounds like nice to be able to extend to all citizens a legal system that upholds their rights/interests. Still, it's difficult to see how this could work better than how things have been put together.
July 15, 2020
It felt dated to me, showing it’s age. So much has happened since it was written that it just doesn’t feel relevant anymore.
March 31, 2014
The 2003 invasion of Iraq provoked much soul-searching on both sides of the Atlantic, most of which turned out to be a bit embarrassingly melodramatic. However, this compilation of interviews and essays by Habermas is one of the finest products of what must have been a strange time in history for a public intellectual.
'The Divided West' is a relatively clear-sighted reflection on the state of international politics after the US' and Britain's illegal invasion of Iraq divided opinion the world over. In a relatively short volume, Habermas explores the increasing redundancy of realpolitik in a globalised world, tempering this with a balanced critique of the EU's limbo-like status.
Some very good prescriptions for the future direction of Europe.
'The Divided West' is a relatively clear-sighted reflection on the state of international politics after the US' and Britain's illegal invasion of Iraq divided opinion the world over. In a relatively short volume, Habermas explores the increasing redundancy of realpolitik in a globalised world, tempering this with a balanced critique of the EU's limbo-like status.
Some very good prescriptions for the future direction of Europe.
August 5, 2011
for fans of Sol Invictus, current 93 and death in june that are acquainted to international laws and political science concepts.... all the others simply stay away is extremely academical.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews