13.06.2019 Vortragsreihe "Postcolonial Securities"| Tarak Barkawi (London School of Economics) "Small wars/big consequences. The histories of metropolitan and peripheral peoples."| 17. Juni 2019, 16:00 Uhr

Tarak Barkawi (London School of Economics): Small wars/big consequences. The histories of metropolitan and peripheral peoples.

17. Juni 2019, 16-18 Uhr

Deutschhausstraße 3, Raum 109

Abstract:

This lecture explores why "small wars" have big consequences for Western powers. Through war, the histories of metropolitan and peripheral peoples become entwined in explosive and unpredictable ways. The effects of such wars are a consequence of the constitutive role of the 'Orient' in Western identities. These identities are committed, in diverse ways, to notions of Western vitality, strength and dominance over non-European peoples. There is no more obvious, public sign of Western weakness and Oriental strength than defeat in battle or failure to obtain victory. Unsurprisingly then, setbacks in small wars become sites of political and cultural disruption at all levels of Western society.