World of statues: the “war on terror,” memorialisation, and colonial violence

As the “war on terror” expands to new frontiers, we reflect on how it is memorialised through statues and monuments that serve to erase the imperialist and racialised violence it has embodied (and continues to embody). We write this essay as the government of Canada is developing plans to build a new memorial in its capital city, Ottawa, to commemorate its protracted and costly participation – as “empire’s ally” – in a U.S.-led militaristic campaign in Afghanistan in the name of combatting “terrorism” (Albo and Klassen 2012; Brewster 2021). Canada withdrew its troops from Afghanistan a decade ago and the U.S. government plans to withdraw its troops by September 2021 (Ryan and DeYoung 2021). While the Americans have been forced from Afghanistan mere weeks before the withdrawal that was to mark an end to the 20-year military campaign against terrorism and, with what appears to be a long period of instability ahead, the current moment can be considered within the ongoing mutation of the “war on terror” from a war (in Muslim countries) overseas to a war (against “dangerous” Muslims) everywhere.