Liberal state torture targets noncitizens strategically in service of national interests.

Evidence

The use of torture by liberal-democratic states is part of their attempt to control populations of noncitizens. In such cases torture cannot be attributed to “primitive urges”—as Scott suggested. Nor to governmental techniques for disciplining citizens, as Rejali has argued. It is to be understood as a means used strategically for the maintenance of the nation-state’s interests. Like warfare. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 562

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• XREF: Echoes debates about empire and the exclusion of noncitizens from liberal protections; parallels work on citizenship as the boundary of state violence in colonial contexts.

Related

• Liberal torture is a strategic state tool, not primitive cruelty (similarity 0.93)