The War on Terror was initiated by President George W. Bush as a response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The War on Terror was not just a concept, it was a range of strategies,...Show moreThe War on Terror was initiated by President George W. Bush as a response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The War on Terror was not just a concept, it was a range of strategies, ideologies and expectations to justify the American response to the attacks and an expression around which the American public could rally. It shaped the nature and the scope of the American counterterrorism strategy to the terrorist attacks, into a specific form of conflict. This thesis demonstrates what the two different counterterrorism strategies entailed, and the different interpretations President Bush and President Obama gave to the War on Terror. Bush approached the attacks as an ‘act of war’, and rationalized the event through the Just War theory. Whereas Obama framed the conflict as a ‘crime’, of which the perpetrators should be brought to justice, in order to end the conflict as quickly as possible. During his campaign, Obama gave the impression of a foreign policy strategy that radically moved away from Bush. However, Bush had embedded a strong hegemonic discourse regarding the War on Terror in society. This social structure was complex to change, since it was entrenched in rhetoric, media and real-life institutions. Thus, Obama faced great difficulty during his first term, in order to change this hegemonic discourse, and was severely limited in executing his intended foreign policy regarding the Middle East.Show less
