Illiberalism in its epoch: The emergence of modern illiberalism as a consequence of the Global War on Terror

Hamad, Sam Charles (2024) Illiberalism in its epoch: The emergence of modern illiberalism as a consequence of the Global War on Terror. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to look at the extent to which the Global War on Terror (GWOT) played a role in the emergence of the phenomenon of modern illiberalism.

While 9/11 was undoubtedly a paradigm-shifting event in global and local politics, this work argues that the GWOT was a specific ideological response to those attacks. Moreover, the particulars of that response contributed to the rise of modern illiberalism in various ways.

In order to best understand how the GWOT played a role in the emergence of modern illiberalism, it was necessary to examine modern illiberalism in practice. This work includes case studies and analyses of Orban’s Hungary, Putin’s Russia, and the 'counter-jihadist' ideology of the Islamophobic terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. It examines how the consequences and dynamics of the GWOT, often functioning inadvertently, shaped key aspects of their methods, beliefs, and reactions.

It concludes the GWOT was a major contributing factor to what this work terms the ‘epoch of illiberalism’ that describes a significant aspect of global politics. That is not to say that illiberalism would not exist if not for the GWOT, as it obviously preceded it, but, rather, that without the GWOT, modern illiberalism, as a phenomenon in itself, would be both quantitatively and qualitatively different.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Supervisor's Name: Marshall, Dr. Alexander and Rapport, Dr. Michael
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84520
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2024 07:52
• Last Modified: 02 Sep 2024 07:53
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84520
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84520