Cities, War, and Terrorism: Towards an Urban Geopolitics

"This is a brilliant, disturbing book. Modern cities have often been seen as places of extraordinary creativity and creative destruction, but for this very reason they are also often sites of spectacular military and paramilitary violence. These essays unsettle so many taken-for-granted ways of thinking about cities. Their authors crouch and scurry along streets that, for too long, have seemed opaque to our political and intellectual imaginations. There is a tremendous power and urgency to their arguments that should be confronted by anyone concerned at the intimacy of the connections between cities, war and terrorism." Derek Gregory, University of British Columbia

"Cities, War and Terrorism is a rare accomplishment. Bringing together a truly interdisciplinary group of authors, it provides the first, original investigation of the urbanisation of modern conflict. In their plural ways and myriad sites, the essays in this book investigate the changing nature of the contemporary battlespace and the implosion of distinctions between inside and outside, civilian and military. Together, they mark the beginning of a new and vital field of analysis – an urban geopolitics – that must concern us all." David Campbell, University of Durham

"Acts of war and terror against cities and their inhabitants (both anti-state and state sanctioned) are saturating our contemporary world. Yet urban researchers are in denial of this starkest of contemporary urban realities. Graham brings together the renegade thinkers and researchers who are tracking the ways in which global geopolitics is imploding into the urban world. Cities, War and Terrorism is a stunningly successful synthesis of the subtle interpenetration of global geopolitics and the micro-politics of cities and neighborhoods. It marks the beginning of a new and crucial research domain: that of urban geopolitics. This book must, and will, change the way urban researchers and planners think about and explore city regions. It helps to make sense of the ways in which the historic functions of cities and nation states (social welfare, education, health, planning) are being overwhelmed by the imperative of 'security' and the politics of fear. Purposely provocative and deeply disturbing." Leonie Sandercock, University of British Columbia

"Graham’s anger at the appropriation of the events of 9/11, simmering beneath the surface of his general introduction, contributes to a strong sense of editorial passion and involvement. This volume provides a fascinating, and immensely broad-ranging, call to understand the complex inter-relationships between geopolitical forces and those resilient urban lives."
Totalitarian Movements and Political Religion, Volume 7 Issue 4 (December 2006)