Strategy of Deception - Softcover

Virilio, Paul; Jenkins, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1859843018 ISBN 13: 9781859843017

Publisher: Verso, 2001

Synopsis

Tearing aside the veil of hypocrisy in which the USA and its allies shrouded the Kosovo war, Paul Virilio here makes a trenchant denunciation of its perpetration.

Written with his characteristic flair, Virilio’s latest book is a trenchant denunciation of the Kosovo war in which he successfully unites theory with a riveting study of the conflict. Tearing aside the veil of hypocrisy in which the USA and its allies wrapped the war, Virilio demonstrates that the nature of the bombing was set by strategic rather than ethical considerations. Beneath the humanitarian rhetoric, Virilio sees a sinister innovation in the methods of waging war: territorial space is being replaced by orbital space in which a system of global telesurveillance is linked to the destructive power of bombers and missiles. Governments, the military and the media are becoming part of a seamless and self-justifying process linked by new information and arms technologies.

Passionate and political, Strategy of Deception is a vital examination not only of the war in Yugoslavia but also what Virilio calls our ‘fin-de-siecle infantilisation’ in which the reality of battle is reduced to flickering images on a screen.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Virilio trained as an artist in stained glass, working with Braque and Matisse, as well as studying philosophy at the Sorbonne. In 1975 he was made director of the Ecole spéciale d’architecture in Paris. He retired from teaching in 1998 and now works with private organizations on projects to house the homeless in Paris. He has written many books, including War and Cinema, Open Sky, and Ground Zero.

Edition details

• Publisher: Verso
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1859843018
• ISBN 13: 9781859843017
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120