UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AFTER THE 11 SEPTEMBER TERRORIST ATTACKS: A NOTE ON THE NEW SECURITY PARADIGM

Abstract

This article is about how the terrorist attacks of the 11 September 2001 against the US have produced or reproduced and reinforced political outcomes related to security and defence designs in post-Cold War international politics. It should be emphasised, however, that our traditional conception of the classic factors of power in analysing and explaining the changing security environment is still relevant. International politics is still a realm of self-help where states face security dilemmas and force plays a considerable role. The logic of international conflict as described by Thucydides still applies in many parts of the world. The difference today is “the reach of impact, the complexity of the causal process, the range and capabilities of actors involved, and the acknowledgement that threat and response are no longer within the sole or even primary purview of the military.”1 In such a context, the overall question becomes one of rationale in the context of security elusiveness in a turbulent world.