ABSTRACT
Cast in terms of the conference and panel for which this chapter was written, it is not difficult to presume the existence of “new international realities” that call for a “new paradigm.” In my judgment the so-called “war on terror” is not among the new realities. Terrorist activities have long been a part of the international scene. The attacks of September 11, 2001, have certainly added to the salience of terrorism, but they are neither the vanguard of new realities nor the foundations of a new paradigm. Rather, as elaborated below, the realities and paradigm derive from the advent of an acceleration of pervasive processes wherein several interrelated dynamics have generated a vast, global disaggregation of authority that, in turn, has given rise to new global structures.
