"In order to address the question we would have to assess it carefully. Terrorismappears to be problematic to define. So far no internationally accepted legaldefinition of terrorism exists, despite the various attempts. The politicalconnotations of the term make such a taskquasiimpossible from a legal point of view. Constituting one of the pathologies of the political system, terrorism andpolitical violence are to be studied first as social phenomena and then as illegalactivities that put at risk the well-being of innocent citizens. States undoubtedlyhave both the obligation and the necessity to protect their own citizens, giventhat terrorist attacks pose a threat to both the internal and the internationallegal and political order. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 will remain in the collectivememory as the day when international terrorism managed to strike the heart of the sole superpower subsequently becoming the outmost threat to thecontemporary world order. The response to this attack was criticized heavilyex post by various scholars as well as executive security personnel of the U.S. Thepresent essay in accordance with the critics of the military intervention argues that such a strategy has not been effective." Credits: Nikolaos Nikolakakis.
