ABSTRACT
The exploration of Australia's counter-terrorism discourse begins at its infancy, the time of interpretive chaos in the United States that swiftly resulted in the ascendancy of a neoconservative approach to security. It was in these very early days that John Howard offered near unqualified support for a US led War on Terrorism, a time when other world leaders were still in the interpretive and contemplative stage. The significance of the voyeurism associated with 9/11 in relation to the interpretive phase with which this chapter is concerned, is potent. In the context of the chapter it is, however, critical to shed light on how the neoconservative approach rose to ascendancy and filled the discursive space caused by the events of 9/11. Key American allies in Europe such as France, Russia and Germany condemned the Bush Administration for its neoconservative unilateralism and for stepping outside the laws of the international community.
