ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an interpretive framework for making sense of today's geopolitical landscape by showing the impact ideology and technology have had on contemporary American security practices in the Global War on Terror. Deep-rooted prejudices and presuppositions regarding American exceptionalism, which cross ideological lines, have had a disastrous impact on policies that sought unilateral and multilateral regime changes in the Middle East under the veneer of combating terrorism. Post-9/11 American security practices have occurred in tandem with the rapid militarized uses of technology that are often inefficient and of dubious moral value. These short-sighted policies to suppress terrorism, which have been undertaken without reference to a broader strategic vision, create preconditions for greater insecurity. The chapter concludes with a newly fashioned American security strategy that emphasizes long-term stability over shortsighted exigency, democratic accountability over extraordinary measures, and ethical commitments over arbitrary determinations towards security.
