President Bush referred to the first war of the 21st century in the wake of the 11 September attacks and vowed to rid the world of this evil. Countries lined up offering support – some were more willing than others and others backed down from initial carte blanche support to conditional support. Western democracies were in turmoil as the task in front of them unfolded. We should look at the area of terrorism in the context of the new world order. People are too quick to sweep this under the carpet.