Preface to the Second Edition

• Author: John H. Currie
• Pages: 21-23

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION

As chance would have it, the f‌inal, revised page proofs for the f‌irst

edition of this book left my desk in August, 2001. A scant few weeks

later, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Wash-

ington shocked global public consciousness. For some, the attacks and

their aftermath called into question the appropriateness or even the rel-

evance of existing international legal regimes concerning transnational

terrorism, the maintenance of international peace and security, and

the protection of human rights. Some doubted the international legal

system’s capacity to adapt to the “new realities” of global terrorist net-

works, asymmetrical warfare, and the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction. Some — abetted by an American administration seeming-

ly sceptical of the value of international law (or the rule of law more

generally) and keen to assert the United States’ now-dominant “hard”

power — even predicted (at times exultantly, one suspects) the demise

of international law itself.

In retrospect, it would be diff‌icult to deny the profound geopolitical

repercussions of the events of September 11, 2001. So too would it be

diff‌icult to overstate the heinous nature of the attacks or the tragedy of

their consequences. However, it seems that their negative signif‌icance

for the relevance, adaptability, or survival of the international legal

system has been greatly overstated. International terrorism, threats to

international peace and security by non-state actors, and the spread of

weapons capable of causing mass casualties were concerns already well-

known to international law in 2001. Complex treaty networks address-

ing each, overlaid with customary international legal obligations and

institutional frameworks, were already in place. This perhaps explains

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