The War on Terrorism and International Law

The West’s response to the 9/11 attacks is perceived to have brought out transatlantic differences in commitment to international law. This chapter situates those differences within the geopolitical context of the Cold War of which, it is argued, the attacks signaled the passing away. It is further argued that the perception of terror is a function of the underlying nexus of popular agency and sovereignty that define the constitutional culture of the United States and Europe, respectively. It is not the response to terror that has brought about a difference in commitment to international law, but the passing away of a specific geopolitical horizon that has brought into view already existing differences. In conclusion, the chapter considers what recent jurisprudence from the E.U. Court might tell us about the possible development of a political dimension to the European legal order.