ABSTRACT
One reason why Fascism has a chance is that in the name of progress its
opponents treat it as a historical norm. Walter Benjamin, ‘Theses on the Philosophy of History’, 1939.
CONFLICT STUDIES
‘Conflict studies’ in the higher education institutions of the West is a relatively recent phenomenon. The subject stormed out of our military academies, to see itself assume pride of place in the list of postgraduate taught courses, especially in the United Kingdom. What generated this interest, of course, and sensitized the most alert members of the academic community in the field of international relations, was the end of the Cold War coupled, some 10 years later, with the terrorist attacks on the USA on 9/11, 11 September 2001. The clash, now, people like to say, is no longer between opposing states and power blocs, but rather between ‘civilizations’, religions and nationalisms. Conflict is also attributed to ‘rogue’ or ‘failed’ states and regions and can thus be ‘asymmetric’ in cases where a great power intrudes, attempting to impose ‘order and justice’ upon disobedient societal actors.
