5) International law, multilateral organizations and treaties work only when there is legitimacy. The inability of the west to successfully react to terrorism and its use of asymmetrical warfare has created another vacuum: that of international law. The United Nations is supposed to defend states from the exploitation of others, prevent harm to civilians and punish war crimes. However, the U.N. and international law in general fails to address the non-state actor. If legitimacy is lost due to legality, the legitimacy of protecting the innocent, then what happens to the usefulness of international law and agreements? If we willingly enter a quicksand of legality in order to avoid our legitimate responsibilities to defeat terrorism and extremism, we risk the entire house of civilization coming tumbling down.