Approaching Al Qaeda terrorism and the war on terror: a just war perspective
Approaching Al Qaeda terrorism and the war on terror: a just war perspective

Summary/Abstract: The third millennium A.D. was expected to bring peace and to solve many of humankind’s problems, from security to health or environment - to name a few. Instead, a black day came in the history of mankind (as Pope John Paul II once called 9/11) and the dogs of war have been once again unleashed, starting a sequence of events that lead to chaos in the Middle East and the establishment of ISIL. This paper approaches two of the most important events of the beginning of the 21st century, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the war(s) on terror, from the perspective of the just war theory and tradition. The most important finding is that both the ‘Al-Qaeda terrorism’ and the ‘war on terror’ are not justified even by the standards imposed by the Catholic Catechism or the Qu’ran regarding the just cause for waging warfare. However, a traditional characteristic of state sovereignty (waging war) is no longer exclusively associated with the nation-state. It is already shared with non-state actors aspiring more or less to statehood

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