Pernicious states: Towards a new grammar of international relations

Senior Research Fellow, The Global Institute for Strategic Research (GISR), Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Injustice extends not only to people and states, but also to words and concepts. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in international relations, where power often prevails over wisdom and prudence. Those who control money, trade, technology and resources also seek to control the concepts through which the world is understood. Naming and framing can define enemies, discredit dissenters, create pretexts for war and aggression, burnish one’s own image and advance political interests. In short, concepts manufacture the image of reality.