security – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

The Syndrome of Humanitarian Interventionism

The following is an extract from my chapter, “Imperial Abduction Lore and Humanitarian Seduction,” which serves as the introduction to Good Intentions: Norms and Practices of Imperial Humanitarianism (Montreal: Alert Press, 2014), pp. 1-34: The dominant ideology of US-led globalization since September 11, 2001, is one that configures society as existing in a state of […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

New Book: Emergency as Security–Liberal Empire at Home and Abroad

Kyle McLoughlin and Maximilian Forte “Just as our vision of homeland security has evolved as we have made progress in the War on Terror, we also have learned from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina….We have applied the lessons of Katrina to this Strategy to make sure that America is safer, stronger, and better prepared. To […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Which States? Which Secrets? Secrets from Whom?

From the journal of the World Policy Institute comes “The Big Question“ for its Fall issue on Secrecy and Security. I have maintained a research interest in the area of the anthropology of secrecy, and understandings of power in connection with secrecy in both anthropological theory and in the work of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks (more to come […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Afghanistan Elections 2009: Updated

Voting is now over for this year’s national elections in Afghanistan. To cover the voting, and the run up to the election, I have collected a list of media reports focused on Afghanistan’s 2009 election, along with relevant extracts from most of the items. Please see: Afghanistan Elections 2009 In addition, at different points during […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

World Crisis, Theory Crisis

At some point in the not so distant past a qualitative change occurred in the perception of the social order, so that it was no longer seen mainly in terms of conflict over the production and distribution of ‘goods’. Rather, it is the production and distribution of ‘bads’ that has come into conflict with the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

New article by Hugh Gusterson: “The bursting global security bubble”

Hugh Gusterson has a new article on Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists titled, “The Bursting Global Security Bubble.” I was tempted to post the whole article here as well, it contains several important observations and critical questions. I will just post an extract: In the 1930s and 1940s, the West’s financial and security structures collapsed. […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Reviewing the AAA’s Report on Anthropology and the Military

About four months ago I promised to produce an essay/notes reviewing and summarizing the 04 November, 2007, release of the report by the AAA Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities, whose term of work began in November of 2005. The report is titled “AAA Commission on the Engagement […]