ENEMIES EVERYWHERE: TERRORISM, MORAL PANIC, AND US CIVIL SOCIETY DAWN ROTHE Western Michigan University STEPHEN L. MUZZATTI Ryerson University Abstract. Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, terrorism has experienced a prominence in discourse across the U.S. The representations of terrorists and ter- rorism by the news media and politi have contributed to the edifice of terrorism as a ‘‘moral panic’’. This treatise examines the social effects that have or may occur due to the social construction of a moral panic of terrorism. The thematic frame is situated within Cohen’s stages of a moral panic. We offer an analysis of the media’s depiction and coverage of acts of terrorism, and legislative, political and legal responses in the form of social and cultural changes occurring from the creation of a moral panic. In addition, we offer an analysis of the state’s vested interest in the social construction of this panic, leading to increased levels of fear, targeted at the general public’s con- sciousness. This article concludes that the presentation of terrorism and terrorists by the media and politi have contributed to unnecessary levels of panic and fear, mis- guided public consciousness, and the development of legislation creating negative social ramifications yet be seen. Introduction The American public has been inundated with highly mediated images of terrorists and terrorism since September 11, 2001. Perceived threats and heightened security alerts abound in daily media coverage and political speeches, leading to what may be termed a moral panic. The edification of a moral panic among the U.S. population has exacerbated a culture embedded in fear. While the events of September 11, 2001 were indeed tragic, the construction of a moral panic by the media and politicians to support their interests is a greater social tragedy. The concept of moral panic has been used to define social issues for the past 30 years (See Becker 1963; Young 1971; Cohen 1972; Hall et al., 1978; Reiman and Levine 1989; Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994; Burns and Crawford 1999; Muzzatti 2002, 2003 (unpublished)). Young Critical Criminology 12: 327–350, 2004. Ó 2004 Kluwer Law International. Printed in the Netherlands. 327