Strategic Assessment

Despite initial expectations, a unified international front against terrorism did not form following the attacks of September 11. The articulation of counter-terrorism policies has remained as it has always been – subject to states’ particular calculations of interest. This, however, should not have come as a surprise. Perceptions of terrorist threats, as well as considerations as to how to rise to meet them, reflect intertwined normative and political judgments on the part of a given state’s political leadership. As such, they are essentially subjective.