Counter Terrorism in the 21st Century and the Role of the European Union

Terrorism is designed, as it has always been, to have profound psychological repercussions on a target audience and to undermine confidence in government and leadership. Nevertheless, after the 9/11 attacks, it is possible to claim that terrorism has changed and the European Union’s response, along with the world one, has also changed. By means of discursive analysis, this paper aims at exploring the complexity of the new threats that terrorism poses to the globalised world by combining 21st century technologies with the most extreme reading and vision of the clash of civilisation. The analysis will then proceed with an assessment of the change of approach that has guided EU action in the aftermath of 9/11 and with a critical examination of the issue of global actorness.