Liberty in the Age of Terror: A Defence of Civil Liberties and Enlightenment Va

Anthony Grayling argues that our societies face threats not just from terrorism itself, but from the ways our governments respond\u2014often by chipping away at our own freedoms. Think 42-day detention, constant CCTV surveillance, creeping invasions of privacy, ID cards, and the grim images of Abu Ghraib, rendition, and Guantanamo. He points out the political irony: launching a war \u201Cto promote freedom and democracy\u201D might rarely be justified, but in the Second Gulf War of 2003, the response to criminals in one country (Al Qaeda in Afghanistan or Pakistan) was to invade another (Iraq). Meanwhile, the War on Terror has morphed into a War on Civil Liberties at home, with Western governments undermining the very freedoms they claim to defend. By that logic, he quips, someone might one day need to invade the US and UK to restore their freedom and democracy. In his clear and timely book, Grayling examines what\u2019s at stake, weighs arguments from thinkers like Isaiah Berlin, Ro.