Carl Schmitt’s claim that the concepts of the modern state are “secularized theological concepts,” remains contested. But what of the concept of the enemy? Was it a theological concept? And if so, has the enemy been secularized? What of the religious enemy, what of the enemy of God? What of God as an enemy? Or perhaps, in a truly secular fashion, the enemy is of this world, secular indeed. And perhaps the enemy is now everywhere.
Petar Bojanić is a professor of philosophy at the University of Belgrade and serves as the President of the Regional Network of Centers for Advanced Studies in Southeast Europe (RECAS), operating under the Southeast European and Western Balkans Rectors’ Forum. He is the author of numerous publications, including the acclaimed book Violence and Messianism: Jewish Philosophy and the Great Conflicts of the 20th Century (Routledge, 2017), which has been translated into eight different languages.
Gil Anidjar is professor in the Department of Religion. Among his publications are The Jew, the Arab: A History of the Enemy (Stanford 2003) and On the Sovereignty of Mothers: The Political as Maternal (Columbia 2024).