ABSTRACT
The attacks of September 11 have widely—and rightly—been interpreted as attacks on the international order. The terrorist acts were aimed at the United States as the flag bearer of the Western world and its core values and as the dominant power of the international order. Al Quaeda's attacks not only were motivated by a different view of international order, but this view found considerable resonance worldwide, at least ex negativo—, in its rejection of the prevailing Western views of international order. The Western concept of international order therefore is geared towards change, to accommodate the dynamics of capitalism and the values of democracy. An "enemy" of international order is any actor who wants to promote a different, incompatible system of global governance, and who is willing and capable of seriously threatening prevailing conceptions. Traditionally, concepts of international order have settled on states as their constituency, and have accepted war as an evil to be exorcised or at least tamed.
