The attacks of September 2001 were the most significant instance of the use of force by a non-state agent against a sovereign state in the history of the modern international system. An event of such significance should, in itself, stimulate further discussion about the standing of states in world politics, as wells as on the ethical foundations of today's international system. Unfortunately, most debates have focused on the US response to the attacks and their consequences, circumscribed by the conventional standards of the logic of anarchy. Condemnations of the attacks have often reproduced the duality between ethical considerations and political analysis. This work raises some questions about the use of force in world politics in an attempt to contribute to a discussion about the ethical basis of the economy of violence today.
Violence; Terrorism; International Relations Theory; Ethics; sovereignty