ABSTRACT
Is it possible to imagine political life without violence, and so no need for security? Might our age of security come to an end? Some social scientists claim that a safer future is an “ontological right.” In response, this chapter discusses the “Great Games” of geopolitics, and grapples with security ontology, returning to the apparatus and tactics of security professionals to argue that security, understood culturally, addresses violence, even if only feared, and therefore cannot offer a culture of safety. More deeply, violence is a form of political expression. In dialogue with the work of Olivier Roy, we propose that political aspirations are captured in terrorism and countered by counterterrorism. Drawing on Nietzsche’s last man, and Weber’s disenchantment, we propose that angry charisma stands in contrast to the pax offered by the security bureaucracy. We conclude, therefore, that “ontological security” is an oxymoron, and suggest ways to engage with passion without bloodshed. On good days.
