20 years ago, on the 11 of September 2001, the world changed. Four planes were hijacked by the Islamic extremist terrorist group, Al-Qaeda, resulting in the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. They crashed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field which resulted in around 25,000 injuries and almost 3,000 deaths. Last Saturday marked the 20th annual commemoration of the victims who died in the attacks. Everyone vividly remembers what they were doing the day of the attacks as it marked a turning point, changing our world forever.
The collapse of New York’s biggest landmarks and the deep sadness caused by the 9/11 attacks was overwhelming, sparking a widespread fear and many concerns regarding safety and the threat of terrorism. Prior to the attacks, the millennial and boomer generations hadn’t endured much struggle on a global scale, living in a golden age of international peace. The digital age captured and broadcasted the attacks, allowing people to watch them on live television everywhere.
The influence of the media and live coverage of the attack fostered a global surge of Islamophobia and publicly displayed hatred towards Muslims post-9/11, blaming them for the attacks and ostracizing them from society. After 9/11, the international foreign policy and response was to stand alongside the United States and ensure that an event as tearing as this one never occurred again. The world entered an era which was defined by global terrorism; similar attacks to 9/11 took place in Madrid (2004), London (2006), and Brussels (2016), but never to the scale of 9/11. The U.S. began an occupation in Afghanistan, initiating an investigation on terrorist attacks and Osama Bin Laden, and also launched a war on Iraq, determining the U.S.’s foreign policy tactics in the Middle East. German newspaper Deutsche Well explains how “The era triggered by events in Afghanistan has now come full circle, marking its 20th anniversary with events in Afghanistan. Twenty years ago, the Taliban were quickly ousted from power; in recent weeks they have regained power just as quickly”.
In November 2014, The National September 11 Memorial and Museum opened to remember and respect the victims of 9/11. 20 years after the attacks the two footprints of the towers in Ground Zero are lit up to create a holograph in the sky to commemorate the events that will never be able to be justified. September 11 united the world and the American people but also created a terror of globalisation. The world will never be able to recover from the events of that day, but as we head into our second year of the global pandemic, we must once again unite to collaborate and protect humanity.
Bibliography
Deutsche Welle. “World Marks 20th Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks: DW: 11.09.2021.” DW.COM, 11 Sept. 2021, https://www.dw.com/en/world-marks-20th-anniversary-of-9-11-attacks/a-59150526.
Hartig, Hannah, and Carroll Doherty. “Two Decades Later, the Enduring Legacy of 9/11.” Pew Research Center – U.S. Politics & Policy, Pew Research Center, 2 Sept. 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/.