Rethinking sovereignty: American strategy in the age of terrorism

Terrorism is an act of political violence aimed not only at innocent civilians, but at the legitimacy of the state. Twenty-first century terrorism is gradually shifting away from direct state sponsorship and toward more amorphous groups, often having access to state resources but less and less likely to be under the control of the state itself. In an increasingly globalised environment, the traditional state-centric means of responding to terrorism will not be sufficient and may even be counterproductive. Thus, to be effective, American strategy must change fundamentally: the threat requires a flexible, broad-based globalised strategy, seamlessly incorporating international economic, political, legal, diplomatic, cultural and military elements. International terrorism is not dangerous because it can defeat the United States and its allies in a war, but because by marshalling unprecedented destructive power it can destroy the integrity of the state by undermining its ability to protect its citizens from direct attacks.