Terrorism and the State: Rethinking the Rules of State Responsibility

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Winner of the 2007 Paul Guggenheim Prize! Today's terrorists possess unprecedented power, but the State still plays a crucial role in the success or failure of their plans. Terrorists count on governmental inaction, toleration or support. And citizens look to the State to protect them from the dangers that these terrorists pose. But the rules of international law that regulate State responsibility for preventing terrorism were crafted for a different age. They are open to abuse and poorly suited to hold States accountable for sponsoring or tolerating contemporary terrorist activity. It is time that these rules were reconceived. Tal Becker's incisive and ground-breaking book analyses the law of State responsibility for non-State violence and examines its relevance in a world coming to terms with the threat of catastrophic terrorism. The book sets out the legal duties of States to prevent, and abstain from supporting, terrorist activity and explores how to maximise State compliance with these obligations. Drawing on a wealth of precedents and legal sources, the book offers an innovative approach to regulating State responsibility for terrorism, inspired by the principles and philosophy of causation. In so doing, it presents a new conceptual and legal framework for dealing with the complex interactions between State and non-State actors that make terrorism possible, and offers a way to harness international law to enhance human security in a post-9/11 world.

Reviews

Not only has Becker succeeded in producing a tightly argued yet elegantly written piece of legal scholarship, but he has also convincingly shown how principles of causation can be employed to hold states accountable for private acts of terrorism. His book makes an important contribution to the law of state responsibilityone may expect that before long Becker's arguments for broadening the scope of state responsibility for private acts of terrorism will be taken up on the international stage. -- Aurel Sari * International Affairs *
The author addresses the subject very succinctlyThis book will serve as a useful source of reference for scholars, academicians and government officials working in this field. -- Manoj Kumar Sinha * Indian Journal of International Law, vol.46, n.3 *
a tour de force in the literature on state responsibility. His scholarship is impeccable. -- Craig Forcese * The Canadian Bar Review *
comprehensive and clear, original and substantiated, conceptual and practicalA great international law book, Terrorism and the State is open to competing readings and, simultaneously, conveys a clear argumentTerrorism and the State is clearly the most significant contribution to the field of state responsibility since the ILC Draft Articles of 2001 -- Alan Nissel * Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol 5, no 1 *
Becker is a learned and careful commentator, and international lawyers will benefit from reading his book. -- Eric A. Posner * Political Science Quarterly *
the bibliography is most impressivehis call for clarity and certainty in an attempt to base actions on 'sound legal foundations' is admirable -- Dewi Williams * Legal Studies, Vol. 27 No. 2 *
'Terrorism and the State' is of great interest as it deals with present day questions. References to the late 19th century practice of State responsibility for private acts together with considerations on how the matter generally influences the relationship between public and private domains in international law prove to be particularly interesting. -- Raffaella Nigro * Italian Yearbook of International Law, volume 16 *
Aside from its important thesis, Terrorism and the State is a thorough resource on state responsibility and terrorism in international law and broaches topics whose importance grows daily. -- Joshua Rosenthal * International Law and Politics, Vol 39 No.1 *

Author Bio

Dr Tal Becker was legal counsel to the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations from 2001-2005 and has served as Vice-Chairman of the Legal Committee of the UN General Assembly. Dr Becker received his doctorate from Columbia University, and holds a masters degree from the Hebrew University. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Naomi, and their three children.