Counter-terrorism knows no borders : the post-9/11 global security regime and the securitization of civil society

Published: 07 September 2021This chapter maps the development of global security architecture in the context of the “new terrorism” security paradigm, and the impact this is having on civil society – creating challenges for community integration, securitising political dissent, and potentially advancing fundamental social and economic inequalities. It argues that the inequalities of counter-terrorism represent an internalisation of racism associated with colonialism into the heart of the Westernised (but not Western) state model through the language of security. This has blurred the line between what have been traditionally defined as “democratic,” “authoritarian” and “hybrid” states to such an extent that they are rendered problematic in their usage in a counter-terror context. As such, more radical approaches to theorising the relationship between terrorism and counter-terrorism need to be considered