WAR ON TERROR

War on terror

War on Terror

Introduction

After the attacks of September 11th, 2001, throughout the United States of America, a prominence in discourse of terrorism has been experienced by the nationals. Terrorism, terrorists and their representations with the help of politics and media news have contributed a lot to the construction of terrorism as a ''moral panic''. An analysis of the coverage of acts of terrorism and media's depiction, and legislative, legal and political responses in the form of cultural and social changes occurring from the creation of a moral panic. Not only has this, the vested interest of the state has also been explained and elaborated on basis of social construction and panic around. This has further lead to increased fear by targeting the consciousness of general public. The main war began in response to terrorist attack on 11 September 2001 on United States of America.

Discussion

When it comes to talk about the support of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it refers to the causes, the occurrence of which directly leads to the conflict. It is caused by the balance of power in favour of one or the other state instead of the condition of equilibrium. It has a dual effect, producing the situation of conflict that is manifested in the form of hostility between the nation states and coolness in the relations between the two countries. The interstate relations though apparently remain intact; the pot of hostilities remains boiling beneath the apparent calm. It causes a necessary shift in the development of subsequent conflict behaviour, which is a direct measure of the degree of confrontation between the two states at the later stages.

Morgenthau's theories of classical realism are framed on the three fundamental assumptions:

The State Centric

Rationality

Power assumptions

He carries his arguments forward by advocating his thinking as his "six principles of political realism". He thus advances the idea that politics is rooted in a permanent and fixed human nature that is both egoist and self-interested. Framing the 'self-interest' as basic human condition that he conflates as 'conflicting state interest' in international political arena. It allows state's political leadership freedom to act without consent as being rational, in view of state's responsibility to the nation and its citizenry. Morgenthau considers ideologies of other states as dangerous and a threat to international peace and security. For him, statecraft is a sober and uninspiring activity that involves profound awareness of human imperfection. Therefore state's political leadership in international relations cannot be subjected to moral or legal principles. (Knopf A.A, 1978 - Morgenthau 1948, pp.4). In contrast Kant's political thoughts are embedded in legalistic framework of his ethical theory. For Kant a 'political order' is primarily a system of laws. His thoughts were complimentary to Hobbes, Locke and Rosseau in proposing legitimacy of political order that commands the consent of those who are subject to it and claim its objective authority. Thus according to Kant a social contract is therefore 'contract on which alone a civil and thus completely lawful constitution can be based ...