Search

This study examines the degree of bipolarization of regional per capita income distribution in the European Union between 1977 and 1999. The results obtained reveal a decrease in regional bipolarization in the European context over the study period as a consequence of various factors working in opposite directions. Likewise, the analysis carried out shows that the national component is the main factor explaining regional bipolarization in the European Union, while the geographical location and the productive structure in 1977 seems to have less relevance.

America's 'war on terror' and Al Qaeda's 'jihad' reflect mirror strategies of imperial politics. Each camp transnationalizes violence and insecurity in the name of national or communal security. Neoliberal globalization underpins this militarization of daily life. Its desire industries motivate and legitimate elite arguments (whether from 'infidels' or 'terrorists') that society must sacrifice for its hypermasculine leaders. Such violence and desire draw on colonial identities of Self vs. Other, patriotism vs. treason, hunter vs. prey, and masculinity vs. femininity that are played out on the bodies of ordinary men and women. We conclude with suggestions of a human security to displace the elite privilege that currently besets world politics.