  We show how an effective field theory of long distance QCD, describing a dual
superconductor, can be expressed as an effective string theory of
superconducting vortices. We evaluate the semiclassical expansion of this
effective string theory about a classical rotating string solution in any
spacetime dimension D. We show that, after renormalization, the zero point
energy of the string fluctuations remains finite when the masses of the quarks
on the ends of the strings approach zero. For D = 26 the semiclassical energy
spectrum of the rotating string formally coincides with that of the open string
in classical Bosonic string theory. However, its physical origin is different.
It is a semiclassical spectrum of an effective string theory valid only for
large values of the angular momentum. For D = 4 the first semiclassical
correction adds the constant 1/12 to the classical Regge formula for the
angular momentum of mesons on the leading Regge trajectory. The excited
vibrational modes of the rotating string give rise to daughter Regge
trajectories determining the spectrum of hybrid mesons.
