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The construction of family values in geopolitical discourse: the ongoing legacy of A dolf H itler and B ritain's ‘supreme emergency’
Author(s) -
Flint Colin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the geographical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1475-4959
pISSN - 0016-7398
DOI - 10.1111/geoj.12015
Subject(s) - geopolitics , law , politics , state (computer science) , sociology , just war theory , state of emergency , memoir , rhetoric , political science , spanish civil war , philosophy , theology , algorithm , computer science
The use of the philosophical axioms of just war theory by political leaders justifying their participation in war is examined. Especially, the just war themes of ‘supreme emergency’ and ‘emergency ethics’ are investigated as a means of justifying extra‐territorial wars, or wars that are far away from a state's borders and where no imminent threat of invasion is present. The practice of equating geopolitical situations to the actions of H itler and N azi G ermany is seen as a consequence of the mobilisation of the language of ‘emergency ethics’. The rhetoric justifying extra‐territorial warfare uses an idealised sense of the home that is reinforced by the practices of soldiers. Furthermore, the importance of values in the ‘emergency ethics’ logic is investigated by exploring the memoirs of a British Army chaplain serving in the K orean W ar. The contemporary relevance of the article lies in the extra‐territorial nature of the W ar on T error and the persistent use of reference to values to justify immoral and illegal acts of war.