ABSTRACT
Since the attacks on 11 September 2001 on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon Building in Washington, DC the term ‘new terrorism’ has gained wide currency to describe what is seen as a massive shift in the scale, scope, nature, purpose and cause of non-state political violence in various parts of the world. The term itself pre-dates 9/11, coined by leading mainstream writers on terrorism in the preceding decade. For example, Walter Lacquer (1999: 4) argued that the 1990s had witnessed a ‘radical transformation, if not a revolution, in the character of terrorism’ while Bruce Hoffman (1995: 280-281) suggested that ‘terrorism is changing. New adversaries, new motivations and new rationales have surfaced in recent years.’ However, it was in the wake of 9/11 that the concept of ‘new terrorism’ emerged more prominently in political and public discourse. ‘New terrorism’ was part of the lexicon of the ‘Global War on Terror’ launched from late 2001 onward by the Bush and Blair administrations against what was defined as the ‘real and existential threat’ from Islamic groups (Blair 2004). The invasion and occupation of Iraq, the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the emergence of various anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency policies and measures introduced in the United States, the UK and elsewhere were the result.
