11 September 2001: War, Terror and Judgement

This is a timely and thought provoking publication which sets out the background to the attack on the Twin Towers on 11th September 2001 and the possible consequences of the United States’ response. The analysis is made from the point of view of the assumptions on which a viable community of states is based, and analyses the threats to that community. Hidemi Suganami, in his “Reflections on September 11th,” analyses the ambivalence involved in a war against terror, and the consequences of a grossly unequal world order, both in the location of power and the benefit of the world’s resources. Bulent Gokay examines the crucially important role of oil, resulting in a grab by a number of oil companies supported by their governments for the immensely productive oil wells of Central Asia and the use of the pipelines which convey that oil to the sea, the route through Afghanistan being one of the most attractive. Patrick Thornberry gives a detailed and authoritative account of the provisions in international law for dealing with self-defence and with emergencies, emphasising both the need for proper procedures, supported by UN Resolutions, and for a proportionality of response to attack. Andrew Dobson examines the consequences for the global environment of the US refusal to enter into the Kyoto Protocol and other agreements and the disproportionate pollution of the atmosphere through the effects of huge consumption of oil in the USA.