The ‘Transformation of War’ Debate: Through the Looking Glass of Ulrich Beck’s World Risk Society

Abstract

This article adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the ongoing ‘transformation of war’ debate in an age of globalisation. It suggests that careful scrutiny of recent Anglo-American campaigns, from Kosovo to Iraq, reveals a shared underlying concern: the management of globalised systemic risks. This implies an interesting continuity where one might expect discontinuity, given the different US administrations and strategic contexts involved. Policymakers, for instance, have consistently prioritised anticipatory proactive stances to avert probabilistic scenarios. Underpinning the analysis presented here is what sociologist Ulrich Beck terms the ‘world risk society’. Social sciences, notably sociology, have fruitfully incorporated risk theories into their research agendas. International relations, however, has largely not done so in a concerted fashion, despite its cross-disciplinary nature. This article demonstrates that Beck’s ideas in fact have great relevance to understanding the impetus, ethos and outcomes of contemporary war.