In recent years the mass murder of thousands of innocent civilians
by al Qaeda terrorists has plumbed the depths of criminality and
immorality. Yet it is the response to those attacks, particularly
by the United States, that has provoked widespread accusations that
the anti-terrorist cure may be worse than the terrorist disease.
This book explores the key legal and ethical controversies that
arose in the wake of the brutal attacks of 11 September 2001. After
the Cold War, progress in human rights and limitations on warfare
created an impression that "global civil society" had emerged to
challenge the dominance of states and establish new norms to guide
their behavior. The events of 9/11, however, witnessed a
reassertion of state prerogatives, reflected in challenges to the
Geneva Conventions and the stigma against torture. Focusing on core
debates about preventive war and the implications of targeted
assassination, kidnapping, indefinite detention, and the torture of
suspected terrorists, Evangelista asks whether state practice will
further undermine the very norms of international law and morality,
or whether efforts to combat terrorism can be brought back into
conformity with ethical and legal standards.
