3
Security Council likewise adopted Resolution 1368 (2001), which expressed the UN’s “readiness
to take all necessary steps to respond to the terrorist attacks.”
1
Despite these overtures from its
closest allies and the world’s other major powers, the US soon went to war in Afghanistan
without explicit involvement by either NATO or the UN. While some non-governmental
organizations complained about the US acting alone, most states realized that the US did not
need much material assistance to fight in Afghanistan and that it was claiming a legal right to act
in self defense. Generally, they tacitly accepted America’s “self help.”
Within a matter of months, however, the world’s reaction to US unilateralism started to
change for the worse. President George W. Bush’s (2002A) “axis of evil” rhetoric and his
administration’s rejection of the International Criminal Court and other widely accepted norms
sparked controversy across Europe and around the world. Early in 2002, European Union (EU)
External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten (quoted in Erlanger, 2002) cautioned against the
United States slipping into "unilateralist overdrive." German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
(quoted in Erlanger, 2002) warned that “The international coalition against terror is not the
foundation to carry out just anything against anybody, and particularly not on one's own….All
the European foreign ministers see it that way.” Then-French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine
(quoted in Erlanger, 2002) worried that the United States was acting "unilaterally, without
consulting others, making decisions based on its own view of the world and its own interests."
Washington's "simplistic" worldview was especially problematic, according to Védrine (quoted
in Henley, 2002), because "it is not our vision of the world, it is not our vision of international
relations." European and many other states want to be active participants in the decision process
on questions of international peace and security. They see the UN system as vital – and not
merely to approve (or disapprove) of American foreign policy actions after-the-fact. As German
1
The Council also declared that it would “remain seized of the matter.”
Convention