Terrorism and weapons of mass destruction may change the nature of the threats we face, but they do not fundamentally alter the nature of the responses we should undertake. The US military response against the Taliban and AI Qaeda in Afghanistan was essential, but there are clear limits to the role of military force in attacking terrorists; many of the terrorist cells have been embedded within our own allies, where we must work with information sharing, law enforcement, and their judiciaries to break-up terrorist planning and activities. These activities require the closest harmonization of laws, standardization of procedures, and deep-seated trust among allies.

Excerpt from Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs,
Waging Modern War,
May 7, 2003.

I would suggest that the first thing to understand about the war on terror is that it is not enough to take down states. Within a few days after the 9/11 attacks, the decision was taken to go after Saddam Hussein, regardless of whether he was actually involved in the incident. There may have been many good reasons for that; and I don't dispute that it certainly sent an object lesson to the world: that the United States has armed forces capable of taking down whole countries.

On the other hand, we should understand that this capability alone will not win the war on terror, because the problem with the war on terror is that many of the terrorists are here in the West, in countries that you can't take down. We are not going to attack Germany; we are not even going to attack France, as angry as people are at the French. Both France and Germany are our allies in the war on terror, along with Spain and Italy.

It's not about military force if you want to win the war on terror. That's the easy part. It's about the harmonization of laws; it's about agreeing on what terrorism is and having a clearinghouse to get the laws governing terrorist acts standardized across countries, so that the international environment for prosecuting terrorist crimes is seamless. And it's about agreeing on the elements of proof, the standards of admissibility for evidence. If a country has conducted a wiretap that yields substantial proof of engagement in a terrorist cell, they should be able to hand that information to another country for use in court. We're not there yet.

There's also the broader picture to consider. The fact is, the United States represents only about 5 percent of the world's population but is using 25 percent of its consumable resources. If Hans Morgenthau were here today, he would tell you that politics among nations is a function of human nature itself. And when you have lands in which people are impoverished, humiliated, resentful, angry, and ignorant, you're providing the ideal culture in which the seeds of terrorism will grow and come back against us again and again. We have to face up to this reality.

In the war on terrorism, alliances are not an obstacle to victory. They're the key to it.

The longer this war goes on--and by all accounts, it will go on for years--the more our success will depend on the willing cooperation and active participation of our allies to root out terrorist cells in Europe and Asia, to cut off funding and support of terrorists and to deal with Saddam Hussein and other threats. We are far more likely to gain the support we need by working through international institutions than outside of them