It has been 25 years since the 9/11 attacks, and the impact of that day continues to shape our current world. The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands more. This affected how the United States approaches national security, travel and foreign policy.
Daniel Rothenberg, Co-Director of the Future Security Initiative at ASU, joined “Arizona Horizon” to reflect on how the world has changed since 9/11.
For Rothenberg, 9/11 has not only shaped but transformed our world. With a series of wars post-9/11, the United States adjusted to find its new place in the world.
“From the dominant superpower, the post-Cold War moment to being frightened, unsure and acting quite aggressively to stop terrorism around the world with complex success and failure,” Rothenberg said.
Initially, the worldwide response to 9/11 was not one of isolation, instead it was the only time NATO invoked Article 5 which states that an armed attack against one member state is considered an attack against them all. At the time, Americans had a lot of trust in the government and held a strong sense of unity, something Rothenberg says can be hard for young people to imagine now.
Majority of Americans over the age of 30 know where they were when the events of 9/11 occurred, but for the 100 million Americans who were not around for 9/11, it is a topic they are taught about in schools. To this Rothenberg raises the question, how should we process 9/11?
“To a large degree I think people look at the 9/11 response, particularly post-9/11 wars, as failures,” Rothenberg said. “People may not feel this, but these conflicts and this whole security apparatus has cost our country an enormous amount.”
According to Rothenberg, the wars have cost up to $10 trillion, money that could have been used elsewhere, leaving the next generation with uncertainty over what it was all worth.
