Introduction

This book is about the discursive production and transformation of hegemonic orders in the discourses on international terrorism and drug prohibition, the identities constructed thereby and the practices legitimized by these orders and identities. It analyzes how both discourses have installed, justified and sustained dominant orders by asking how and why specific interpretations of international terrorism and drug abuse have become hegemonic at the global level. The study especially questions how these agreements have or have not been achieved, since enacting policies against both phenomena – to globally wage a ‘war on terror’ and a ‘war on drugs’ – necessitates a high degree of political and social consensus which is not possible without agreeing upon a particular meaning of terrorism and drugs.