Democracies in Danger : An Analysis of Democracies' Deconstruction in Their War to Dismantle Islamic Terrorism

The 9/11 attacks changed how western societies, and with them the world, view terrorism. To respond to these events, western democracies allied to fight for their values against what they saw as their sworn enemies. It is in this fight that the research takes place and assesses if western democracies did lose sight of their primary objective, which was to spread democracy and its principles across the world. This study will assess how democracies deconstruct themselves through the methods they employ to win this War on terror. More precisely, this study will analyze the USA and France’s approaches and their consequences on them as representatives of western democracies. The research finds itself in a new approach that focuses on a historical, social, and linguistic aspect of the decisions made by these States as it aims to assess the self-deconstruction of democracies in their fight against terrorism. The research question that will lead this thesis is formulated as such: ‘How are the methods used by western Democracies in their fight against Islamic terrorism causing their deconstruction?’ and will be using a textual analysis approach to the topic by analyzing speeches and legal documents that have played a crucial role in the current shape of these democracies. The expected results are to understand if democratic values have been victims of the ‘War on terror’ and if democracies have started a transformation process from a focus on liberties to a priority on security