- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Hobbes's concept of the egoistic state of nature extended to international relations as an explanatory model for analyzing the motivations behind the September 11 terrorist attacks, 2005
- Creator:
- Jarrett, Elijah P.
- Date of Original:
- 2005-05-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
dissertations - Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- This study examines the motivations of the terrorist organization al Qaeda in facilitating the September 11 terrorist attacks involving the hijacking of four commercial jets and the subsequent crashing of two of these aircraft into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a fourth into an abandoned field. This study was based on the premise that extending Hobbes's concept of the egoistic state of nature to the conditions prevalent in international relations lends itself to an explanatory analysis of what motivated al Qaeda to facilitate the September 11 terrorist attacks. A descriptive analysis of the applicable aspects of Hobbes's political philosophy was performed for the purpose of establishing a conceptual relationship between Hobbes's notion of the egoistic state of nature and the violent conditions that exist in global affairs that lead to political violence like the September 11 terrorist attacks. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that there is a conceptual relationship between Hobbes's concept of the egoistic state of nature extended to international relations and the motivations that led al Qaeda to facilitate the September 11 attacks. Secondly, if steps are not taken to lessen the Hobbesian state of nature conditions prevalent in international affairs, then terrorist acts like the September 11 attacks will continue in the future.
Degree type: dissertation
Degree name: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Granting institution: Clark Atlanta University
Department: Department of Political Science - Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2005_jarrett_elijah_p
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
