Citation

Mendelsohn B. Int. Stud. Rev. 2009; 11(4): 663-686.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2486.2009.00890.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Looking beyond the military component of the global war on terrorism this article identifies a multilateral and multidimensional effort to revamp the state-based order. This effort is guided by four principles: (i) states are the primary actors in the confrontation with the jihadi movement, and state sovereignty must be respected in the various cooperative counterterrorism efforts; (ii) as members in the international society, states hold obligations to the collective not to allow terrorists to use their territories to harm other states; (iii) because numerous states are weak, a special effort must be made to bolster states’ capacities so that they will be able to realize their obligations to the society of states; and (iv) the enormous demands of capacity building necessitate particular emphasis on interstate cooperation, including the provision of assistance for weak states and sharing of best practices. The article then presents two spheres of action in the war on terrorism, indicative of this general design: the regime to suppress the financing of terrorism and states’ efforts to reinforce control over their borders. It concludes by arguing that the implications of the efforts to reinforce the state-based order require that we pay it much closer attention.