How is the space for contemporary interventions constructed? This article deepens our understanding of counterterrorism as a dialectical form of intervention by highlighting the importance of unifying rationalities in the creation of “ungoverned spaces” as abstract spaces for intervention purposes. We combine dialectical and decolonial thinking to track how unifying rationalities in Nigeria and Libya are deployed across cognitive, normative, and operational constructs. The article examines how interventions are cognitively tied to coloniality of knowing, being, and power, which exploit identity, religion, or societal divisions to justify ungovernance and normalize state and foreign violence. The simultaneous and reciprocal globalization of local security concerns and localization of global security predicaments facilitates the formation of abstract spaces for counterterrorism purposes. Empirically, our analysis shows how portraying Libya and Nigeria as ungoverned creates a void of meaning, putting external actors in charge of restoring governance and protecting human security, modernity, and civility. Interveners in Libya contributed to normalizing a broader spectrum of violence, frequently internalized by competing actors through their normative tropes. In Nigeria, state and foreign interventionism and counterinsurgency have been responsible for the widespread use of violence against entire communities.

中文翻译：

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利比亚和尼日利亚干预的抽象空间

当代干预的空间是如何构建的？本文强调了在创建“不受治理的空间”作为干预目的的抽象空间时统一理性的重要性，加深了我们对反恐作为辩证干预形式的理解。我们将辩证思维和非殖民思维结合起来，追踪尼日利​​亚和利比亚的统一理性如何在认知、规范和操作结构中运用。本文探讨了干预措施如何在认知上与知识、存在和权力的殖民性联系在一起，这些殖民性利用身份、宗教或社会分歧来为无政府行为辩护并使国家和外国暴力正常化。地方安全问题的全球化和全球安全困境的本地化同时相互促进，有利于反恐抽象空间的形成。根据经验，我们的分析表明，将利比亚和尼日利亚描述为不受治理的国家是如何造成意义的空虚，让外部参与者负责恢复治理和保护人类安全、现代性和文明。利比亚的干预者促成了更广泛的暴力行为正常化，而这些暴力行为经常被相互竞争的行为者通过其规范比喻内在化。在尼日利亚，国家和外国的干预主义和反叛乱活动是针对整个社区广泛使用暴力的原因。