Wars of Neoliberalism
The Political Economy of the War on Terror
Initiated in response to the 9/11 attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan formed part of the Bush Administration’s War on Terror but they were also a strategic response to the United States' long hegemonic decline. In its chaotic withdrawal some 20 years later, the US had accelerated the disorganization and chaos in the very societies it sought to pacify and rebuild.
Whereas much has been written about the military campaigns, this book focuses on the occupations of Iraq (2003–11) and Afghanistan (2001–21) as part of the processes of global political economy. Private contracts for reconstruction projects were lucrative, unregulated and unsupervised and largely led to the further degradation of infrastructure and immiseration of the occupied territories. Corruption and neoliberal accumulation thrived. Neoliberalism is shown to have been a core driver of the rationalization of America's wars of intervention, which presented an economic opportunity too good to miss.
Foreword by Rob B. J. Walker
Introduction
1. Changing Architecture of Power
2. Setting the Stage: US National Security Strategy
3. Project for the New American Century: Where Neoconservatism and Neoliberalism Meet
4. Neoliberalism and 9/11
5. Neoliberal State Building in Afghanistan
6. US Invasion and Neoliberal Modernization of Iraq
7. Human Terrain System and Neoliberal Governance
8. Outsourcing the War on Terror
9. Conclusion: Military Pacification and Economic Immiseration
References
Index
Over the past 25 years, many books and articles have been published on various aspects of the War on Terror. Some align with the view presented in this book while others diverge sharply from it. However, very few analysts have considered it within the kinds of historical perspective one gets from traditions of international political economy. Gökay’s comprehensive political economy analysis of the War on Terror thus addresses a clear gap in the literature.
Wars of Neoliberalism offers a compelling and timely political economy analysis of the War on Terror, revealing how military intervention, neoliberal restructuring and the pursuit of US global hegemony became deeply intertwined. Bülent Gökay’s historically grounded and critically incisive study is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the economic interests and power relations that shaped the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and continue to influence the contemporary global order.
In this compelling book Professor Gökay argues that America's War on Terror was not simply a security response but, instead, was consistent with continuities in U.S. foreign policy to advance capitalist political-economic transformation abroad. A highly recommended alternative perspective.
