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The panel was convened at 12:15 p.m., Saturday, March 27, by its Chair, Jianming Shen,* who introduced the panelists: Julie Mertus, Ohio Northern University; Muthu-Cumaraswamy Sornarajah, National University of Singapore; Paul C. Szasz, New York University School of Law, and Michael Scharf, New England Law School. The abstract of Michael Scharf's comments is not available.
"TERRORISM" AS IDEOLOGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION
by Julie Mertus**
This work explores the ideological use of the concept of terrorism, its reproduction in media accounts about Kosovo, and the ways in which this concept skews intervention discourse. It examines the function the concept of terrorism performs, both inside and outside Serbia. In both cases, the concept of terrorism becomes a weapon to be exploited in the service of some system of power.1 As Martti Koskenniemi observes, "It is the normative construct of a specific 'terrorism discourse' which makes possible the application and organization of physical power."2
Within Serbia, a culture of "local antiterrorism" has been manipulated to create feelings of victimization. A study of Serbian and Yugoslavian journalism from 1981 to 1999 is replete with examples of Serbs labeling Albanians as "terrorists." The naming of so-called terrorist acts sets them apart from other kinds of violence that can be managed through ordinary means. The innocence of the victims is stressed to highlight the randomness of the acts; links are made to historical enemies (i.e., "Turks") and religious fundamentalism (i.e., "Islamic fundamentalism"). The image of the fanatical, sly, evil Albanian casts fear throughout the Serbian population. Once they know they are the victims, Serbs have few moral qualms about being perpetrators.3
Outside Serbia, a culture of "faraway antiterrorism" has been manipulated to justify political action and inaction. Media accounts of the war in Kosovo paint Kosovar Albanians as terrorists, either by accusing them directly or through unquestioning reports of Serb accounts. The foreign media also link alleged Albanian terrorism to religious fanaticism amd suggest a threat to democracy and civilization itself. The concept of terrorism, so depicted, is part of the political undercurrent of any discussion of intervention in Kosovo. After all, the cardinal rule is that one does not negotiate with support a terrorist. Even if outside negotiators do not call Albanians terrorists, the presumption, widely reported in...