Anastasiou centers his argument around the “bellicose nationalism” of many Americans—seen especially during the G. W. Bush and Trump administrations—compared to the often marginalized “peace and democracy” crowd. The antagonism between these world views is underpinned by the “very different understandings of democracy” between these groups. Simply put, nationalists believe in the rights, powers, and correctness of the state. The peace and democracy group is more interested in the rights of the individual. These feuding world views occasionally come to a head, as in the immediate wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These attacks undermined confidence in the ability of the state to ensure security, and the psychological response was to strike out, seeking vengeance. The issue, however, is that the policy victors were unable to understand contexts for the wars of vengeance in Afghanistan and Iraq. The book lays out the shortcomings of the wars and argues that ideas Americans purport to hold dear, such as the rule of law, were unnecessarily trod upon and laid to rest. This book is well written and has come out at a fortuitous and important time. One minor complaint is that it could have been sourced more carefully. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

“Harry Anastasiou presents some of the most advanced knowledge about how adversarial nationalism conditions democracy, justice, peace, and political culture in ethnocentric terms in nation states. The War on Terror and Terror of War: Bellicose Nationalism versus Peace and Democracy sheds light on issues that deserve more attention yet haven’t been adequately addressed in other studies. These include the importance of understanding how the interconnected nationalist exceptionalism narrative comprising loyalty and duty to the nation and the peace and democracy narrative that includes human rights and the rule of law impact U.S. foreign policy. The author elaborates how both practices, and their values are projected in U.S. economic and military policies that shape global peace and security. This unique and creative book is a must read for peace practitioners, students, and policymakers interested in the role of nationalism as well as global and inter-sectional peace building strategies that are adapted to local environments to generate locally owned diverse peace building practices.”

Sean Byrne, University of Manitoba