ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the consequent authority of the state relies on a particular truth value. It reviews how the state produces its legitimacy through constructing the act and the actor, terrorism and terrorist, object and subject. What is interesting is that the American hegemonic state consistently attempts to exercise its authority and spoils of "winning" the cold war as the only remaining military superpower. The problematic for American hegemony is that the global environment does not support a uni-polar, hegemonic power. National security discourse, as seen in these Boeing ads, is employed to validate the use of military power to achieve victory over the other. Martha Crenshaw proclaims, "on balance, terrorism assists in the demise of regimes already distressed". Acts of terrorism cannot exist without an actor. The actor facilitates questions regarding the nature of humanity and forces the "civilized" state to address the role it plays in creating an environment ripe for violent mechanisms to solidify.
