Global hegemonies, power, and identities: the Liberal International Order, the international community and international terrorism

Abstract

The present article argues that the Liberal International Order is structured around specific dynamics of power that constitute and shape the whole international community. In this sense, the LIO is deeper than the big powers competition that are shaping the international sphere nowadays. All of these actors belong to the international community and they are shaped by the same power hegemonies. To better appreciate the systematic nature of the LIO and its sustaining power hegemonies, therefore, it is useful to study the actors placed outside of the international community – i.e., international terrorism. It is on international terrorism that this article focuses arguing that it is the potential challenging nature of this violence that allows us to see the power relations shaping the international sphere. These are the reason of the state, of the system, and of civilization. Discursively legitimised by liberal narratives, these are the main systemic pillars of the LIO.