Boston to Where: The Challenges Posed by Local-Global Terrorism

Abstract

As the Boston bombers dramatically illustrated, twenty-first century terrorism is a powerful combination of international and domestic causes. The response to terrorism at home has been mixed, with the U.S. seeing its response to terrorism as part of a global war whereas its European partners always handled domestic terrorism as criminal cases. Boston illustrates a third form of terrorism, what I call global-local terrorism, reflects a hybrid posing significant challenges to both approaches. This chapter discusses competing views of the appropriate legal framework for dealing with terrorism when it happens on their doorsteps. The challenges are highlighted when, as in the U.S. and UK, second and third generation immigrants commit terror attacks. I discuss the domestic law enforcement-criminal courts approach of European countries and then analyze the contrasting “self-defense” (law of armed conflict) approach taken by the U.S. The chapter concludes with reflections on “motivator-inciters” who radicalize those who actually perpetrate terrorism, inquiring whether local-global terrorism warrants imposing limits on otherwise protected free speech.