Abstract:

The 9/11 attacks on the United States unsettled our understanding of war and security in the world. This unsettling resulted partly because of the magnitude of the symbolic and substantive harm inflicted by a non-state actor lacking in military capabilities, and partly because the United States government responded by way of “war” rather than by reliance on “law enforcement.” The discourse on war and peace is also confused by a reluctance to extend the label of “terrorism” to political violence by state actors against civilian innocence. The experience of the past five years calls for a rethinking of the relationship between “war,” “law,” and “security” in the global setting of the early 21 st century.

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