The War on Terror has posed a difficult challenge for proponents of cosmopolitanism, through its invocation of cosmopolitan-like discourse, focused on emancipation, democracy promotion and the protection of human rights, in support of the controversial practices of warfighting and counterinsurgency, which sit uneasily with a cosmopolitan ethical position. More recently, the 2011 intervention in Libya has again highlighted the persistence of this militarized form of cosmopolitan practice with very limited reflection on the congruence between rhetoric and appropriate practice.

This article argues that these contradictions should not necessitate a rejection of cosmopolitanism, but rather a critical rethinking of how cosmopolitan-informed policies are played out in practice. Proponents of cosmopolitanism must be aware that they do not have a monopoly on the use of cosmopolitan discourse and that it can be, and has been, used to legitimate practices which have not reflected what cosmopolitan scholars may have envisaged in theory. To address this, the article advances an idea of practical cosmopolitanism, one which is self-reflective, critically attuned to the practice of cosmopolitanism and focused on the experience of cosmopolitan-informed policies by the intended beneficiaries.