United States of America’s Counterterrorism Policy and the Evolution of Global Threats
Keywords:
Counterterrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Domestic Extremism, Cyberterrorism, Securitization Theory, Global SecurityAbstract
The research question explored in this paper is how the counter-terrorism (CT) policy of the United States has grown over the years in response to changing global order in a manner that is prompted by a critical evaluation of the traditional security policies as part of the growing dynamics of hybrid and non-traditional threats. It assesses the way U.S. strategies have evolved to be less militarized in the post-9/11 paradigm to consider a growing range of threats, such as cyberterrorism, domestic extremism, and strategic competition with state actors, such as Russia and China. The main objective is to determine the consistency, flexibility, and effectiveness of the U.S. counter-terrorism policies and strike a balance between the national security demands and democratic principles. The research methodology is qualitative, based on document-based research, combining policy documents, academic literature, and case studies. It is theoretically grounded by Realism, Constructivism and Securitization Theory that explain how power interacts, how identities are formed and how security threats are framed which in turn enables one to see how perception regarding threats is socially constructed and subsequently affects policy responses. Results show that, despite the U.S. CT efforts disrupting international terrorist networks, it is still disjointed across administrations, overly dependent on military tools, and is ever more out of sync with the emergence of domestic and cyber-based threats. The strategic effectiveness is also undermined by trade-offs of civil liberties, institutional inertia and inconsistent multilateral participation. The paper will end with a recommendation of a whole-of-government approach based on prevention, resiliency, oversight, and multilateral coordination. The democratic accountability and adaptability should be prioritised in future policies in order to maintain the efficacy in an increasingly multipolar and digitised threat environment.
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Published on: 30-11-2025
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