Reimagining Cosmopolitanism as Military Practice

As the previous chapter argues, despite considerable apparent concern for the wellbeing of vulnerable non-citizens and distant strangers in Western foreign policy, far too little attention has been dedicated to the techniques by which militaries might protect civilians and promote human security. In particular, there remains an implicit assumption within the debate on humanitarian intervention that warfighting skills might usefully support these activities. This chapter addresses this impasse, outlining a possible mode of military action more in keeping with cosmopolitan ethics. One of the principal difficulties revealed during the War on Terror was a distinct lack of reflection on how commitments to the wellbeing of the Iraqi and Afghan populations could be reconciled with the use of warfighting and therapeutic intervention. A lack of reflection on the congruence of warfighting with cosmopolitan-like claims resulted in both a breakdown in the moral solidarity required in cosmopolitan-minded operations and a failure to consider the day-to-day experience of military operations on local populations, the intended beneficiaries of the intervention.