Nations with hegemonic ambitions proclaim their values as the absolute standard of reference and impose strategic paralysis by force, seemingly encouraging the creation of their mirror image. In this sense, hyperterrorism, which uses asymmetrical methods to get round the obstacles and rules laid down by the masters of the international game, is surely the illegitimate child of hyperpower.

A Hegelian approach can help us to understand the identity struggle, which lies behind the purely physical struggle, being played out between those who feel themselves enslaved and their oppressors–real or imagined.