From '9-11' to the 'Iraq War 2003' - Dominic McGoldrick

This book is a tale of two towers, two wars and two visions. The two towers are those of the World Trade Center in New York, destroyed by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The two wars are the War Against Terrorism and the War on Iraq. The two visions are of the international legal and political order for the twenty-first century. The issues involved in the War Against Terrorism and the War on Iraq are of fundamental importance because they may define the shape of international order for the twenty-first century. The book has a number of themes. First, it considers the principal international law and international order issues involved in the War Against Terrorism and in the War on Iraq in 2003. Specific attention is given to the application of international humanitarian and international human rights law in the wars. Secondly it asks how the international debate on the Iraq War was conducted and why. Finally, it questions whether the post-1945 system of international laws and organizations is capable of surviving, and in what form.