Faultlines : Writings on conflict & resolution (Vol.14)

From crisis to crisis, the world has stumbled, confounded, in its 'war against terror', with polices marked by incoherence and damning contradictions. Meanwhile, the forces of extremist violence and those who secure their inspiration from the ideologies of hate are recovering from their brief disorientation to consolidate their networks and resume operations. The opportunities of the fleeting consensus that had crystallized in the wake of the 9/11 attacks have largely dissipated. While a narrowly defined group of terrorists - those that are seen to threaten the US are hunted relentlessly across the world, the pursuit of a 'false peace' has become endemic among other victims of terrorism, as democracies enter into unprincipled negotiations with terrorists, mass murderers, and the rogue regimes that support and sponsor them. Ambivalence, vacillation and error once again undermine the international will to respond adequately to the gravity of the challenge of terrorism.