The `Fall of the Towers' and International Order

The attacks on America of 11 September 2001 present a grave policing problem for the international community but do not constitute a serious challenge to the norms of international society. Rather than a `war on terrorism', the international community is engaged in a hunt for a specific terrorist group, whose ideology - radical Islam - is not sufficiently broad in its appeal to constitute a genuine threat to the current international order. The particularist ideology of al-Qaeda is contrasted with that of an earlier challenge to international society in the 1960s at the time of the Vietnam War, the `Tricontinental Congress' and when a number of terrorist groups were operating within western society - the limited appeal of radical Islam to non-Muslims is in contrast with the universalist ideology espoused by these earlier groups, but, because of the religious basis of their ideology, it will be difficult to incorporate the leaders of al-Qaeda within conventional politics as has happened, in many cases, with the leaders of the earlier revolt against the West.