Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies

Many commentators have claimed that the face of war has changed dramatically since 9/11: they talk not just of ‘new wars’ but, crucially, of ‘endless war,’ ‘unending war,’ and what New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins calls ‘the forever war.’ All of these descriptions focus on time, which means that they all overlook the importance of the slippery spaces through which war now takes place. One of the characteristics of late modern war is the ‘event-ful’ quality of violence that can, in principle, occur anywhere: a commuter train in Madrid, a house in Gaza City, a poppy field in Helmand, or a street in Ciudad Juarez.

I want to show how what I call ‘the everywhere war’ has changed the very nature of war in the early twenty-first century. The killing space still has a terrible intimacy, but we now live in a world where death can be delivered across vast distances and successive American administrations openly speculate about how to conduct ‘war in countries we are not at war with.’ All this makes it hard to see where war ends and peace begins.

To bring these changes into view, and to think about their implications, I examine three cases in which the global North reaches deep into the global borderlands: the use of drones (UAVs) in Afghanistan-Pakistan by NATO forces and the CIA; the militarization of the US-Mexico border and the prosecution of ‘narco-war’; and the emergence of cyber-warfare. Taken together, they have much to tell us about the future of violence, security and everyday life.

Designed as a dual-purpose theatre to showcase both live performances and movies, the Vogue has been a preferred venue for performers, filmmakers, and audiences alike since 1941 and is prominent landmark of Vancouver's theatre district.

The Vogue Theatre is located at:
918 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1L2

Parking
The closest pay parking available is behind the theatre on the 900 block of Seymour St.

Accessibility
Wheelchair spaces are located to the right of the center aisle, on the orchestra level (row 19).