The Swindle of Fragmented Criminalization: Continuing Piecemeal Responses to International Terrorism and Al Qaeda

Abstract

By comparing the counter-terrorism conventions and Security Council resolutions from before and after the September 11 attacks, this Article challenges the relatively common notion that the criminalization effort to combat international terrorism, including Al Qaeda, significantly has improved since the September 11 attacks.On the contrary, whereas the instruments before the September 11 attacks required states to criminalize specific acts normally associated with terrorism without having to define “terrorism” or “terrorist acts,” states now are required to define these terms for themselves, thus further fragmenting the international approach to combating this scourge. This Article calls for a renewed commitment to improving that approach.