Combating Jihadism: American Hegemony and Interstate Cooperation in the War on Terrorism
Monday June 7, 2010, at 14:00
Aula 4 - IBEI
Research seminar
Barak Mendelsohn (Haverford College)
RESUMEN
What explains the general inclination of the international community to cooperate against the jihadi threat, and how do we account for deviations from this trend? Combating Jihadism argues that when the international society is under attack, its members, led by the strongest power, band together and in a demonstration atypical of interstate relations collaborate to fend off the threat. Yet cooperation is neither automatic nor unqualified. The work examines spheres of the war on terrorism that usually receive less attention, such as the efforts to deny non-state actors access to WMD, enhanced border controls, and the work to curb terrorism financing. Based on these spheres and others it links the scope and quality of states’ collaboration to the compatibility of the plans to fight the threat with the fundamental principles on which the international society operates. It also emphasizes the nuanced role American hegemony plays in leading the collective effort. The work presents the hegemon as one that leads a multilateral effort and acknowledges, sometimes grudgingly and after failing to promote its ideas about the appropriate course of action, the limits of its power. Finally, Combating Jihadism also identifies general guidelines for the multilateral aspects of the war on terrorism, and argues that together they amount to an effort to bolster the institution of the state.
What explains the general inclination of the international community to cooperate against the jihadi threat, and how do we account for deviations from this trend? Combating Jihadism argues that when the international society is under attack, its members, led by the strongest power, band together and in a demonstration atypical of interstate relations collaborate to fend off the threat. Yet cooperation is neither automatic nor unqualified. The work examines spheres of the war on terrorism that usually receive less attention, such as the efforts to deny non-state actors access to WMD, enhanced border controls, and the work to curb terrorism financing. Based on these spheres and others it links the scope and quality of states’ collaboration to the compatibility of the plans to fight the threat with the fundamental principles on which the international society operates. It also emphasizes the nuanced role American hegemony plays in leading the collective effort. The work presents the hegemon as one that leads a multilateral effort and acknowledges, sometimes grudgingly and after failing to promote its ideas about the appropriate course of action, the limits of its power. Finally, Combating Jihadism also identifies general guidelines for the multilateral aspects of the war on terrorism, and argues that together they amount to an effort to bolster the institution of the state.