Introduction to the Symposium

• Author: Burns H. Weston - Adrien K. Wing
• Position: Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Senior Scholar, UI Center for Human Rights, The University of Iowa - Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law, The University of Iowa
• Pages: 1-7

Introduction to the Symposium: “Ten Years After 9/11:

Rethinking Counterterrorism”

Burns H. Weston

∗

Adrien K. Wing

∗∗

Few topics central to world order—a world order of human dignity

especially—could be as important as the theme of this symposium, touching

as it does upon human rights, socioeconomic justice, cross-cultural

understanding, and issues of war and peace. These are core inquiries to

which Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems (“TLCP”) has been

dedicated since its beginning twenty years ago . We thus were pleased to

accept TLCP’s kind invitation to serve as co-organizers and co-editors of its

2011 symposium, which took place at The University of Iowa College of Law

on February 10–1 1, 2011, seven months short of ten years to the day,

September 11, 2011, when the United States and world were jolted into a

global order not unpredictable, but radica lly antithetical to the very idea of

human dignity.

The purpose of the symposium, as reflected in the remarks and essays

that follow and flow from it, was to reflect thoughtfully upon the counter-

terrorism policies pursued by the United States and its allies since that

horrific day, particularly in the Middle East and Central/South Asia, and in

the context of the tragically enduring Israeli-Palestinian conflict whic h many

believe has much to do with why 9/11 took place in the first place. Our aim

was to assess the effectiveness of these policies and to recommend

alternatives where needed. Despite the killing of Osama bin Laden shortly

after the symposium and the promising events of the “Arab Spring” that

unfolded during the symposium, issues of terrorism and counter-terrorism,

we assumed, would remain to challenge us all many years to come . This

outcome is especially likely, we predict, as the unattended effects of climate

change and consequent resource conflicts begin also to dominate the daily

headlines. Some, perhaps many, of our students, though but teenagers when

9/11 took place, will spend a significant part of their lives—as private

practitioners, government counsel, non-profit attorneys, politicians, judges,

scholars, or as citizen activists—engaged with these issues that will not go

away.

It was thus for good reason that the symposium was established as a

regional event of the American Society of International Law, the preeminent

professional organiz ation in our field.1 We were blessed, too, by the financial

∗ Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Senior Scholar, UI Center

for Human Rights, The University of Iowa.

∗∗ Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law, The University of Iowa. Many thanks

to my research assistants Jennifer Klein and Hasti Barahmand for their help with the initial

draft of this introduction.

1 See AM. SOC’Y INT’L LAW, http://www.asil.org/ (last visited May 20, 2012).