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36 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 221 (2007-2008)
International Law Fights Terrorism in the Muslim World: A Middle Eastern Perspective

handle is hein.journals/denilp36 and id is 227 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL LAW FIGHTS TERRORISM IN THE MUSLIM WORLD: A MIDDLE EASTERN PERSPECTIVE MOHAMED R. HASSANIEN* INTRODUCTION The September 11 terrorist attacks ignited global interest in the Muslim world;' hence the region has become a primary concern for the international community, with national security bolted to the forefront of the American foreign policy and that of the rest of the world as well.2 Six years after the attacks on New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC, the American perspective has been the prevailing one in most of the writings about International law and terrorism. However, the Middle Eastern approach toward international terrorism needs to be explored carefully in light of the globalization that is taking place everywhere. The Muslim world - in the post-September 11 era - has been the scene for major American operations whether in Afghanistan or Iraq.3 Consequently, Muslims consider the U.S. to be the major threat to them.4 The populace in the Middle East contemplates the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan and the current tension between Iran and U.S. as major reasons to root in rather than uproot terrorism in the Middle East. After almost four years of the war on Iraq, international terrorism has proven to be a pervasive and unconventional enemy, making it evident that the use of force is no longer the most effective tool in combating it. Free trade, . Assistant Professor, Cairo University Faculty of Law, LLM 06, JSD 07, the George Washington University Law School. This paper was presented in a lecture at George Washington Law School on November, 2007. Formerly an Associate with Ibrachy-Dermarkar law firm, currently working in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, DC (office of International Affairs) and admitted to practice law in New York State, January, 2008. 1. Tarik M. Yousef, Development, Growth and Policy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa 2 (2004), http://papers.ssm.com/sol3/papers.cfin?abstractid=594621; see also Kam C. Wong, The USA Patriot Act: A Policy ofAlienation, 12 MICH. J. RACE & L. 161, 179 (2006). 2. See Maxwell 0. Chibundu, Commentary, For God, For Country, For Universalism: Sovereignty as Solidarity in Our Age of Terror, 56 FLA. L. REV. 883, 892-898 (2004); Tung Yin, The Impact of the 9/11 Attacks on National Security Law Casebooks, 19 ST. THOMAS L. REV. 157, 160, 162 (2006). 3. Kevin J. Fandl, Recalibrating the War on Terror by Enhancing Development Practices in the Middle East, 16 DUKE J. COMP. & INT'L L. 299, 300-301 (2006). 4. P.W. SINGER, THE 9-11 WAR PLUs 5: LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD AT U.S.- ISLAMIC WORLD RELATIONS 2 (Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World Analysis Paper No. 10, 2006), available at http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2006/09islamicworldsinger.aspx