Title

The End of Liberal State and the First Terrorist

Presenter

Joshua Castellino

Abstract

In the aftermath of 9/11 those who predicted that the biggest threat to world peace was not terrorism, but the response to terrorism have proven to be correct. States, liberal or other, have resorted to measures that have targeted communities and destroyed liberal values. The quest to make some safer has made others less comfortable. That discomfort is manifest in their alienation, exclusion and demonization, with this in turn creating fertile ground where seeds for the violent overthrow of power can be germinated. In commenting on these and other issues this paper will address a specific question: 'What is the legacy the 'West' hopes to hand-over as China, India, Brazil and Nigeria lead the 'non-Western' world into domination of global society?'  The transfer of financial power and political muscle from West to East is a significant historical development. The long dominance of international society by Western States has become part of the structure of international society, and commentators have not yet contemplated what the change of hierarchies would entail. A healthy Liberal State, with accompanying human rights values, would be a notable Western contribution. However the erratic behaviour of Liberal States in the West, once the 'first terrorists' struck home, is resulting in the severance of an important link with the process of civilisation. 

Biography

Professor Joshua Castellino was appointed Professor of Law & Head of Law Department, Middlesex University, UK in September 2007.  From 2000-2006, he was a member of the teaching faculty at the Irish Centre for Human Rights National University of Ireland, Galway.  He played a major role in the development of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and is currently an Adjunct member of faculty.  Professor Castellino is the driving force behind the Centre’s acclaimed annual Minority Rights Summer School.  He completed his undergraduate education at Bombay University, and was subsequently awarded the Chevening Scholarship to undertake a Masters in International Law and Politics. He completed his Ph.D. in international at the University of Hull in 1998. Professor Castellino is a specialist in minority rights and has written two books on the subject: Minority Rights in Asia, co-authored by Dr. Elvira Dominguez Redondo and published by Oxford University Press in 2006; and International Law and Indigenous Peoples. He is also the author of two monographs on public international law on self-determination and on title to territory.