The expansion of the transnational counterterrorism order after 9/11

ABSTRACT

The September 11 attacks and other large-scale terrorist attacks of that era catalyzed legal and policy responses by governments around the world that served to augment their respective counterterrorism capabilities and the international legal regimes relating to counterterrorism. The collective effect of international reaction to these terrorist attacks on the transnational legal order as it relates to counterterrorism was significant. This article illuminates the ways in which the specific part of the transnational legal order which governs cross-border counterterrorism – the transnational counterterrorism order – expanded and developed after September 11. To do so, this article explores the concept of normative orders and how they develop. This article then focuses on the transnational counterterrorism order and its thickening through the development of specialized institutions and new legal frameworks. This discussion offers insight into how international, domestic, and transnational criminal frameworks in the post-September 11 era have evolved to better facilitate sustained counterterrorism pressure on terrorist groups.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Examples of other terrorist attacks of that era include the 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 193 people and injured approximately 2000, and the July 7, 2005 central London terrorist bombings that killed 52 people and injured hundreds more. More recent large-scale terrorist attacks carried out by radical Islamist extremist groups include the November 2015 Paris attacks which claimed the lives of 90 people attending a concert. The author acknowledges the extensive list of other terrorist attacks with varying degrees of impact that could also be added to this tragic list.