Robbins takes stock of the new cosmopolitanism, rethinking his own commitment and reflecting on the responsibilities of American intellectuals today

For two decades Bruce Robbins has been a theorist of and participant in the movement for a "new cosmopolitanism," an appreciation of the varieties of multiple belonging that emerge as peoples and cultures interact. In Perpetual War he takes stock of this movement, rethinking his own commitment and reflecting on the responsibilities of American intellectuals today. In this era of seemingly endless U.S. warfare, Robbins contends that the declining economic and political hegemony of the United States will tempt it into blaming other nations for its problems and lashing out against them.

Under these conditions, cosmopolitanism in the traditional sense—primary loyalty to the good of humanity as a whole, even if it conflicts with loyalty to the interests of one's own nation—becomes a necessary resource in the struggle against military aggression. To what extent does the "new" cosmopolitanism also include or support this "old" cosmopolitanism? In an attempt to answer this question, Robbins engages with such thinkers as Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Anthony Appiah, Immanuel Wallerstein, Louis Menand, W. G. Sebald, and Slavoj Zizek. The paradoxes of detachment and belonging they embody, he argues, can help define the tasks of American intellectuals in an era when the first duty of the cosmopolitan is to resist the military aggression perpetrated by his or her own country.

"“Robbins writes in the first person, displays a flare for personal anecdotes, and is not at all bashful about expressing his perplexities and uncertainties, all of which should make Perpetual War accessible to those who are challenged by the wealth of detail and insider talk Robbins brings to the case studies.”" - Left Eye on Books

"“Accessibly written yet decidedly ambitious and provocative in its theoretical reach…. Robbins’s text is a timely intervention in debates on the political role of the intellectual in national and transnational contexts.”" - College Literature

"“At the root of the intellectual exercise… lies a profound disenchantment with the ‘old’ elitist formulations of cosmopolitan thought, informed by existential detachment from the core practices of national belonging and normative impulses ingrained with patriotic fervour, and an embrace of a more immediate ‘everyday’, and, therefore, more censorious ‘new’ modes of being in a world rife with economic injustices and exploitation, pathologies of global inequality, cultural and religious intolerance, militarism, and asymmetries of power, and the unredeemable ghosts of imperial zeal… Robbins dissects the vicissitudes of political action in the world of profound socio-cultural complexities and ever-shifting allegiances.”" - Political Studies Review

"“…Robbins’ erudition and interpretive finesse in Perpetual War are nothing short of mind-boggling…” " - symploke

"“Bruce Robbins is an earnest and sensitive contributor to the increasingly robust debate on global justice. . . . Robbins parlays culture-centered cosmopolitanism into a wise protopolitics while delivering the most discerning commentaries I have yet to read on the theorists whose work he does engage (including my own).”" - Common Knowledge

"“[A] nicely argued, engaging volume. Those interested in the discussion of nationalism, internationalism, and ideas about war and ethics will find it rich with fascinating observations and insights.”" - Journal of American Studies