The Ghost in the Global War on Terror: Critical Perspectives and Dangerous Implications for National Security and the Law

Drexel Law Review, Vol. 3, 2011

22 Pages Posted: 13 Oct 2010 Last revised: 14 Jun 2011

See all articles by Nick J. Sciullo

Nick J. Sciullo

Texas A&M University - Kingsville

Date Written: October 12, 2010

Abstract

In this article, I set out to discuss the dangerous implications the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and, more generally, the attempts of the United States government to address notions of terrorism, and its affect on the safety of U.S. and world citizens. I am primarily concerned with engaging a poststructuralist critique of the GWOT to strengthen legal discussions of terrorism and national security policy the current system is lacking. While many in the legal academy have focused on particular issues relating to terrorism, I will engage on a macro-level analysis of the way the legal academy conceptualizes terrorism, not how it discusses acts of terrorism. While I am concerned with the legal basis for the GWOT, I am more concerned with how our idea of terrorism affects our ability to address it in our legal and political lives and how these decisions affect our national and personal security. I will utilize the concept of the ghost in the machine, discussed below, to help further the poststructuralist criticism utilized herein. Next, I will demonstrate the utility of poststructural and postcolonial criticisms to terrorism and the Global War on Terrorism. Lastly, I will argue that the GWOT has far-reaching implications that threaten to debase our legal system, casting our civil rights regime into the refuse bin of legal history. The goal is to provide a poststructural and postcolonial legal framework, available in the legal literature, for scholars, students, and practitioners to use in their further work on terrorism.

Keywords: terrorism, global war on terror, gilbert ryle, nick j. sciullo, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, the other, national security

Suggested Citation

Sciullo, Nick J., The Ghost in the Global War on Terror: Critical Perspectives and Dangerous Implications for National Security and the Law (October 12, 2010). Drexel Law Review, Vol. 3, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1691140

Nick J. Sciullo (Contact Author)

Texas A&M University - Kingsville ( email )

CBA #212
700 Unversity Blvd.
Kingsville, TX 78363
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
252
Abstract Views
1,552
Rank
220,759
PlumX Metrics