Counterterrorism Compared - A Case Study of the United States and Germany After September 11

The attacks of 11 September 2001 represented a new terrorist trend whichtargets liberal Western states. The United States and Germany bothinterpreted September 11 as a declaration of war and an imminent securitythreat. However the two states adopted different counterterrorism conceptsin response to the attacks: The U.S. endorsed a war against terrorismwhereas Germany delineated a fight against terrorism. Why do somepolicy-makers understand terrorism as a war and others as a crime - whilefacing the same terrorist threat? In this publication the author Vera Hanusexamines why the U.S. and Germany recur to diverging counterterrorismstrategies after September 11. The analysis first traces the difference to therhetorical frames and the subsequent policy frameworks. Secondly threetheories of International Relations - Neorealism Utilitarian Liberalism andSocial Constructivist Institutionalism - serve as complex and thoroughexplanatory framework.This case study of transatlantic counterterrorism addresses the academiccommunity policy-makers journalists and all those interested in InternationalRelations and the study of terrorism and counterterrorism policy.