Martin Henry IT'S BEEN two years, today, since those two fuel-laden aircraft were flown by terrorist hijackers into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. A third aircraft was crashed into the Pentagon. And a fourth crashed, off target, in a field in Pennsylvania.
Images of the flaming towers have been seared into the minds of every human being on the planet with access to media, burning icons of a new dispensation. Those tragic events in New York and Washington D.C., with a lower death toll than many of the numerous conflicts running around the world and many major natural disasters, have changed the course of world history. Historians are fond of identifying turning points in history. Years ago I read with the greatest absorption Oscar Handlin's book on turning points in American history. An update of that fascinating book would have to include Nine/Eleven.
TURNING POINTS
But right from the beginning, turning points in American history have been turning points in world history. Perceptive futurists observing the birth of a nation out of 13 colonies in the 18th century, saw the birth of a great power. What they almost universally failed to foresee was the decline of the great powers of Europe and their dependence on the emergent power across the Atlantic. Today the United States stands unrivalled as the world's sole superpower, or hyper-power as the media fond of superlatives have dubbed it.
There has never been anything quite like this in human history. Comparisons have been made with the power of the Roman Empire after the defeat of Carthage in 146 B.C. But the scale is quite different. The Roman Empire was mostly a circum-Mediterranean empire, "Mediterranean" literally meaning in the Roman tongue, Latin, the middle of the earth.
There were Asiatic, African, Native American and peripheral European cultures going their own way outside the reach of the Roman legions, which were never defeated in battle for hundreds of years.
American hegemony, not merely military but economic and cultural encompasses the planet. In Cuba and Iraq, and any number of other places, the US dollar is real money. And, in all but a few places, "Coke is it" and the McDonald golden arch, jeans and Hollywood movies are present as defining elements of the culture.
Nine/Eleven was a major surprise blow, delivered from the inside, to the soft parts of the ponderous giant. That blow has dramatically changed its character.
Projections of anti-terrorist military power have taken place in Afghanistan against al Qaeda and its Taliban protectors, and in Iraq against the Saddam Hussein regime and its suspected possession of weapons of mass destruction. To the great frustration and embarrassment of the mighty American military, the principal targets, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussien remain at large. Perhaps to strike again; certainly to inspire anti-American sentiments. Certainly under-scoring the slipperiness of the foe in this new dispensation.
There is a long list of enemy states of the American Republic, and we can expect more anti-terrorist interventions. The terrorist enemy though is not so much other states as stateless movements, and shadowy individuals against whom armies are not particularly potent forces. But we can expect the expansion of American military aggression and the growth of anti-American sentiments.
Nearby the empty space of "ground zero" where the twin towers stood stands the Statue of Liberty with her welcome inscription: "Give me your poor, and wretched, and huddled masses." America has been made great through the most liberal immigration policy in the history of the world. Some 70 million people have accepted the lady's invitation and have come in search of freedom and opportunities. Enemies like the Nine/Eleven hijackers have also come. One of the consequences of Nine/Eleven has been the progressive closing of the door.
Surveillance of the population has intensified many-fold since Nine/Eleven. Within days of those turning point events, President Bush announced the creation of a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. A Northern Command has been created to manage military deployment within the United States. A policy has been adopted to shoot down any civilian aircraft that has been hijacked and might become a missile like those of Nine/Eleven. In two brief years we have witnessed a growing and frightening closure of American society in the interest of security.
The progressive movements of seeking security above freedom and of the centralisation of power in Federal authority have been accelerated by the events of Nine/Eleven. The most tragic fall-out is the shift in American character.
The great global economic fall-out did not materialise.
BOUNCING BACK
Sectors like the airline and hospitality industries suffered huge setbacks but are bouncing back. Our own national airline and tourism industry resolutely refused to collapse. Economies can be fixed. Wars against clearly identified national enemies can be fought and won. But the ill-defined terrorist threat is pushing the rise of a fortress mentality in the world's greatest, most open, and most generous liberal democracy.
Greatness of power and goodness of heart are rare combinations in history. We saw the heroism and generosity of ordinary Americans in the events of Nine/Eleven. Plane number four failed to reach possibly its White House target because passengers "rolled" and thwarted the hijackers. The rescue and clean-up operations brought out some of the best in a people historically shaped by community and by reaching out.
But we have witnessed the hostility against "Arabs" and "Muslims" many of them Americans over generations like all the other members of a pluralist society. We are witnessing the growing suspicion of immigrants and temporary visitors. We are seeing increased militarisation and aggressiveness. We are witnessing a dramatic change in America's relationship with itself and with the rest of the world, post-Nine/Eleven.
Martin Henry is a communication specialist.
