Introduction

We have described some positive normative directions that are enabled by globalization’s facilitation of communication across borders. But equally striking is its facilitation of transnational forms of violence. Over the past period, we have witnessed salient examples of transnational violent terrorist attacks, as on 9/11, as well as transnational responses to them via the introduction of a coordinated security apparatus and the extension of forms of militarization across borders. Numerous other globalized forms of violence also permeate contemporary politics, including the proliferation of private military firms, transnational criminal and sex trade networks, and new forms of war-making tied to global economic and political processes.

In this chapter, I want to consider how our conceptions of power and democracy can be expanded in order to better counter these forms of transnational violence. The empirical democratic peace hypothesis – that democratic states tend not to go to war against each other – is often introduced as evidence to support democratization as a way to mitigate violence between nation-states. But it is not clear whether or how such a hypothesis could apply to more transnational forms of violence, carried out especially by nonstate actors. Moreover, the conceptual interrelations that underlie this peace hypothesis and especially the connections between power, democracy, and violence are not well understood.