ABSTRACT
Although this chapter will focus primarily upon the aftermath of 9/11, the parameters of the debate were set, at least partially, by the controversies of the 1990s. The attack with the nerve agent, sarin, upon commuters travelling on five trains towards Kasumigaseki station on the Tokyo underground (20 March 1995) represented, in Brian Hoffman’s opinion, the crossing of a threshold: ‘This is the cutting edge of high-tech terrorism for the year 2000 and beyond. It’s the nightmare scenario that people have quietly talked about for years coming true’. (Staff Statement 1995: 47).
