ABSTRACT
The nature and potential breadth of transnational counter-terrorism law are demonstrable through the example of the recent UN Security Council resolution. The resolution is chosen for examination because it demonstrates that even after the recalibration of counter-terrorism law in the post-‘war on terror’ world there remains political willingness to use UN Charter powers with hegemonic effect to adopt new law in this field. That willingness is made clear when we consider that Resolution 2178 was adopted on 24 September 2014 in a meeting under the chairmanship of US President Barack Obama. This was only the sixth occasion on which the UN Security Council had met at the Head of State level.56 The resolution calls for states to take a broad range of action against individuals known as ‘foreign terrorist fighters’. The idea of the ‘foreign terrorist fighter’ has arisen owing to the conflict in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, control of large parts of the northern state territory has been lost to Islamic State, while in Northern Syria, it is Islamic State, rather than the Assad government or the rebels fighting against it, which controls much of the territory. Journalist reports also suggest an Islamic State presence in Egypt and the organisation may pose an even greater threat to international peace and security in the region that Al-Qaeda did at the time of the 11 September 2001 attacks.57
