Abstract

The Author defines four main features of imperial wars, conceived as eternal wars that produce no nomos: the existence of asymmetric powers; an «outside» which is not on the margins but inside and in different places; the use of military police action and expeditions; the constant changing of laws and norms. These four elements are analyzed through the imaginary encounter between the «emperor» and the «pirate». By reading Carl Schmitt's Der Begriff der Piraterie (1937), it is argued that «pirate» becomes the confusing and complicated name for the space outside, which is the paradoxical premise for the constitution of an Empire, league of nation or world government.