In Chapter 2 we outlined homeland defence, but the WOT was primarily a foreign policy undertaking, driven by a transnational counterterror-ism strategy with a truly global reach. The US sometimes emphasized taking a “whole of government” strategy, epitomized by the “3D” approach, combining defence, development and diplomatic efforts to tackle terrorist groups around the world. At other times, the US gov-ernment emphasized a “whole of nation” initiative, where government agencies cooperated and coordinated with civil society organizations, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and other private sector actors towards counterterrorism objectives. This meant that the WOT comprised a variety of military practices, from asymmetric irregular warfare and counterinsurgency to various non military counterterror-ism tactics that included anti money laundering initiatives, intelligence gathering and economic aid and community outreach. It also had the consequence of subsuming many US foreign policy initiatives into a broader counterterrorism agenda. For example, much of US foreign developmental aid was refashioned for counterterrorism purposes. This expansive approach required coordination, from the strategic level down to tactical implementation.

What is counterterrorism? What activities comprised US counterter-rorism in the GWOT? How can we categorize the strategies and practices involved in the GWOT? This chapter introduces US counterterrorism strategy in the GWOT. It explains how the disparate sets of practices and activities subsumed to the GWOT were related. This chapter also explores some transnational counterterrorism practices, such as intel-ligence gathering and the global network of rendition and torture, and identifies a variety of political, legal and ethical issues associated with these. Finally, in addressing the strategic frameworks and policies of the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, this chapter provides context for debates around discontinuity/ continuity in the WOT over time.

Counterterrorism strategies of the GWOT

In US military doctrine, “counterterrorism” is usually defined broadly as “offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, and respond to terrorism” (US Department of Defense 2003: 130) or “activities and operations taken to neutralize terrorists and their organizations and networks” (US Department of Defense 2014). This is understood as a set of security tasks at the national or transnational levels using military, political, diplomatic, legal and economic instruments to detect, deter and defeat terrorist activities.