The Hidden Globe

The DIFC is a free zone “overseen by a board appointed by the city-state’s ruler, with its own bespoke laws down up for the benefit of international business” (133). Of particular interest to Abrahamian is the DIFC tribunal, which has been granted jurisdiction over companies that opt in to having their claims litigated in that court even if they are not physically based within the free zone. Abrahamian characterizes this court as a start-up whose “laws came from elsewhere. So did its judges. And its plaintiffs. And its defendants” resulting in “a state within in a state within a state” (136).

An entrepôt is a place, typically a dock or similar, where goods can be imported, stored, and/or traded prior to export. In contemporary usage, entrepôt most often refers to duty-free ports. Abrahamian uses the term to refer to duty-free areas where goods are imported, exported, and traded. She also pointedly uses the term to describe the immigrant detention facilities in Manus and Nauru to draw the connection between extraterritorial, extralegal treatment of migrants and globalized trade.

Generally under maritime law, while on the open ocean, ships are governed by the laws of the nation under whose flag they fly. For instance, a ship flying a US flag is subject to US laws. Ship owners can essentially buy or lease the right to fly flags of nations with more lax laws to get around labor, environmental, or other regulations. These are known as flags of convenience. Popular FOCs are Panamanian, Bahamian, Liberian and, for ships at the end of their lifespans, Palauan.

A freeport, or port franc in French, is an area with warehouses and siloes where goods can be held and traded without being subject to typical duties, tariffs, or taxes. Historically, freeports were used to store perishable merchandise for a short time. Today, in addition to this use, freeports are used by the wealthy to store valuables to avoid taxation, duties, or tariffs.

Abrahamian coined this term to characterize “carve-outs and free zones, and other places without nationality in the conventional sense” (7). These are places where states exercise sovereignty beyond their borders or where they abandon typical legal frameworks. Every chapter in The Hidden Globe covers a different example of such liminal or exceptional spaces.

Interdiction is the legal term for capture of migrants en route to a new country before they arrive at that country’s borders. Often, although not always, this is a procedure deployed in maritime areas. Abrahamian describes the history of interdiction, beginning with the seizure of Haitian migrants on their way to the United States in the 1960s, and their holding in a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

SEZs are areas where typical laws governing imports, exports, manufacturing, and other regulations are suspended to encourage market activity. There are many forms of SEZs tailored to particular geographies and economies. For instance, an Export-Processing Zone (EPZ) is an area where materials are imported to complete a part of the manufacturing process and then exported to places where the final manufactured good is completed. A free-trade zone is an area where goods can be imported, exported, and traded without being subject to normal taxes, fees, or duties.