ABSTRACT

The Security Council – with its global reach, primary responsibility within the UN system for maintaining international peace and security, and ability to impose obligations on all 191 UN Member States – was expected to play a leading and unique role in the global effort to combat terrorism. Because of these attributes, the Council offered countries like the US the quickest and most effective route for globalizing the fi ght. The Council’s strategy to combat terrorism can be divided into four areas: condemnation of discrete acts of terrorism, imposition of sanctions, imposition of binding counter-terrorism obligations on all States, and capacity-building. I am going to discuss the last two areas, focusing my remarks on Security Council Resolution 1373 and the work of the Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee.