The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 were the most significant historical event in recent history. The attacks were a series of coordinated suicide hijacking of four airliners targeting New York City and the Washington D.C. area. These acts of terror led to an international response of anti-terrorism legislation as well as increased law enforcement powers. The economic impact from the attacks were devastating to the economy of New York City as well as the global market. In this paper i will examine the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the residual effects. I will first provide the realist perspective and then i will provide the liberal perspective. On the morning of September 11th, 2001, 19 terrorists affiliated with the islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes with intentions to crash the planes into various targets of extreme importance.(9-11 Attacks www.history.com) Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, a borough of NYC. The citizens of the United States and people around the world watched with horror as both of the towers collapsed shortly after. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, the home of the United States Department of Defense. The fourth plane crashed in southern Pennsylvania without reaching its target: the United States Capitol Building. More than 3,000 people were killed because of the attacks.(Terrorist Attack:World Trade Center on September 11th www.americanhistory.com) The attackers were islamic militants, more specifically the Al-Qaeda network and its leader; Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden initially denied involvement but would later publicly claim responsibility for the attacks.(9-11 Attacks www.history.com) He cited the U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and economic sanctions imposed on Iraq as the main motives for the attacks.( Bin Laden "Letter to America www.guardian.co.uk) The attacks motivated the U.S. to respond by declaring a "War on Terror" as well as invading Afghanistan to eradicate the Taliban who were giving aid and harboring Al-Qaeda members. The idea that Saddam Hussein was harboring Al-Qaeda militants was also a catalyst to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. (Walter Pincus and Dana Milbank "Al-Qaeda-Hussein Link is Dismissed" www.washingtonpost.com) The events of 9/11 forced the hand of the United States to impose new priorities on its international relations. These new priorities included the imposition of economic and military sanctions on nations suspected of harboring terrorists as well as increasing global surveillance and intelligence sharing with various nations around the world. When analyzing this event from a realist perspective, we must realize the 9/11 could have been foreseen by the cycle of violence predicted by the realist theory. Realists would agree that people are selfish and self centered by nature and the 9/11 attacks reflected the view that the international environment is anarchical and unpredictable. They would assume that the cultural difference between Arab nations and the western world was too great to avoid a conflict of this magnitude. The attacks could be attributed to the fact that there is no one to monitor the behavior and undertakings of citizens in foreign countries. In realist theory, the U.S. could have predicted or prevented an attack by assuming the worst and to fear aggressive intentions when dealing with hostile foreign countries. Because there is no central authority to enforce peaceful coexistence between states, a hostile motive was fabricated. There are, however, major flaws in the realist viewpoint of the 9/11 attacks. First of all, the attack on the U.S. was committed by a non-state actor. The attack was extremely unconventional because their goal was to challenge the ideological supremacy of America instead of seeking to conquer territory or imposing a large number of
