Hostis ante Portas: Power, War and Conceptualisation of the Ennemy in the Realm of International Relations

Abstract

In this article I propose to frame the evolution of the figure of the political enemy in the general evolution of the international system order. The thesis I want to maintain is that the detection of the enemy is always a discursive construction consequent to the transformations of the hegemonic power and of its way of making war. I will illustrate therefore the historical changes that the enemy's notion has suffered, from Westfalia up to the modern programs of counterinsurgency. I will present three big macro-frames (Westfalian order, the Cold War, and the post-11/S) where a significant shift in the balance of power implies a change in their ability to wage war and also a different identification of the figure of the enemy.