Global War on Liberty

by Jean-Claude Paye

The war against terrorism allows power to be reorganized at the world level. The procedures of exception set up in its name become the basis of a new legal order that gives judicial powers to administrative authorities. In this globalized process, the United States occupies an exceptional place. It rules an imperial political structure in which the American administration has the privilege of determining the exception and inscribing it into law.

The government of the United States can designate as an enemy any American or any citizen of a state with which the USA is not at war. It can seize or, because of extradition agreements, force any other government to hand over any individual that it designates as a terrorist. It can keep that individual in unlimited detention or, at its discretion, put that individual on trial before exceptional courts of law. Thus the war against terrorism is constitutive. It alters the exercise of internal and external sovereignty. It leads to an organic solidarity among various governments in the surveillance and repression of their populations. The boundary between the maintenance of order and war is blurred. Real wars are presented as police operations and control over citizens is carried out by procedures that belong to counter-espionage.

From the Back Cover

"This well-researched and persuasively argued study shows how state power is being used to strip away basic guaranties of liberty and fairness, all in the name of fighting 'terrorism.' All of us engaged in the struggle for human rights owe Jean-Claude Paye an enormous debt of gratitude."

Michael E. Tigar
Research Professor, Washington College of Law
Visiting Professor, Duke Law School

"Paye expertly dissects the global 'war on terror' (GWOT), arguing that the Bush administration has used the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to assert new executive powers in the United States as well as Europe. Global War on Liberty is a unique and singularly important book. All who care about protecting national sovereignty, civil liberties, and the rule of law should read it."

Marjorie Cohn
Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
President-elect, National Lawyers Guild

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
September 11
A Constitutive Act
March 11
The London Attacks
The End of The Rule of Law

Chapter 1
THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
INTHE UNITED STATES
The Patriot Act
A Strengthened Executive
Generalized Electronic Surveillance
The Proposed Patriot Act II
The Patriot Act Reauthorization
From the State of Emergency
to the Permanent State of Exception
Guantanamo, Base of A New Legal Order
Rationalization of the New Legal Order
The Incorporation of Anomie into the Law

Chapter 2
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
The Antiterrorism Crime and Security Act 2001
The Prevention of Terrorism Bill
The End of Habeas Corpus
The Legalization of Torture
The Terrorism Act 2006

Chapter 3
THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
INTHE EUROPEAN UNION
The Joint Criminalization of Terrorism
Lists of Terrorist Organizations
Prior Methods of Criminalizing Terrorism
Italian Specificity
The Stakes In The Antiterrorist Laws
Terrorist Organization or Criminal Organization
A Change in Antiterrorist Policies

Chapter 4
THE EUROPEAN UNION:
A SPACE OF LIBERTY, SECURITY AND JUSTICE?
European Arrest Warrant
An Attack Against Social Movements

Chapter 5
SURVEILLANCE OF PRIVATE
An American Initiative
An International Promotion
The Example of Great Britain
In France
Airline Passengers Under Surveillance
Generalized Biometric Surveillance
Calling into Question The Rule of Law

Chapter 6
REORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL STATE
The Police: Central Body of The State
The “Perben” Law
The National State: A Structure Integrated into The Empire
The Specificity of The U.S. National State

Chapter 7
AN IMPERIAL STRUCTURE
Extraterritorial Competence of The United States
The Europol-United States Agreement: an Autonomous Negotiation
Delayed Judicial Cooperation
The Agreement On Extradition
The Bilateral Treaty Between Ireland and The USA
An Asymmetrical Relationship
Globalization of Torture
The Police Function as Basis of Imperial Sovereignty

Chapter 8
THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM:
A CONSTITUTIVE ACT
A Change in Criminal Law
Suspension of the Law
Criminal Law as Constitutive Act
State of Exception
The Exception: Basis of a New Juridical and Political Order
Legal Normativism and Decisionism
The Suspension of the Law: Constitutive Act of the Empire
Dictatorship
Sovereign Dictatorship: The Empire’s Form of Government

CONCLUSION
The End of A Double Legal System
Reversal of The Relation Between Society and State
Dictatorship: Form of Government of Good Governance
The Anticipation of A New Social War

ISBN 978-0-914386-32-2
Pub. Date: April 1, 2007