Global Impact of the September 11 attacks

The 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States had a huge impact globally. Utilise the four levels of analysis - individual, domestic, interstate and global approach to explain why the attacks happened. Do the four levels of analysis provide a comprehensive understanding of events in the international arena.

Essay:

The September 11^st terrorist attacks were one of the most memorable and catastrophic events in the history of the United States of America. Four planes were hijacked by terrorist group al-Qaeda and crashed into metropolitan and important areas of the United States, killing almost 3000 people and causing billions of dollars in property damage. There are numerous explanations for the attacks of this tragedy. In this essay, the reasons will be analyzed in 4 different levels of analysis, namely: individual, domestic, interstate and global.

At the individual level, the attacks could be attributed to the opposition of Osama Bin laden, founder of the group al-Qaeda, to the America. According to The 9/11 Encyclopedia (Atkins, 2011, p. xiv), his hostility towards United States had developed since the late 1980s when the Afghan-Soviet War happened. However, it was not until the 1991 Gulf War that this hostility became so extreme. In this war, a coalition of 750,000 troops from 34 nations led by United States was deployed into Saudi Arabia. This coalition forces' mission is to expel the Iraqi troops from Kuwait, which was invaded. After succeeding in compelling Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, United Stated still kept their troops in Saudi Arabia and this action provoked Bin laden as he considered it "as an unforgiveable sin" (Bhushan, 2001). Moreover, the sanctions against Iraq that were imposed as a result of its invasion of Kuwait intensified the anger of this al-Qaeda leader towards the America. In his "letter to America" (2002), he blamed United States for starving the Muslims of Iraq and killing more than 1.5 million Iraqi children because of these sanctions. Although the Gulf War and the sanctions against Iraq were two of many Bin laden's motives for the terror attacks, they played an important role in the development of this crazy al-Qaeda leader.

From the level of domestic analysis, United States' foreign policy was an important factor contributing the 9/11 event. As stated in Leffer's article (2011), before the attacks, the Bush administration had concentrated on relations with great powers such as Russia and China; on the issue of Middle East peace settlement; on the installation of ballistic missile defence system; and on the approach to "rogue" states with known or suspected to have Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programs such as Iraq, North Korea and Iran. However, terrorism or Islamic extremism were not taken into consideration by the top officials. Prior to George W. Bush administration, President Clinton had made great effort in addressing the threat of terrorism. During Clinton's Presidential term of office, the budget for counter-terrorism increased to $10 billion in 2000 compared with $5.7 billion in 1996 as reported by The 9/11 Encyclopedia (Atkins, 2011, p.2). Although there was an increasing attempt on terrorism, this threat was not the top priority in security agenda of George W. Bush administration, leading the underestimation of Osama Bin laden. Even shortly before the attacks, United States was fail to indicate the imminent threat posed by al-Qaeda. It was stated that in August 2001, Bush was still on his long vacation. Additionally, he was in the classroom listening to students in the morning of September 9th, 2001.

At the interstate level of analysis, the cause of the 9/11 attacks could stem from the United States' position as superpower in international relations in the post-Cold War era. In 1991, United States remained to be the only superpower after Soviet Union collapsed, putting an end to the Cold War. For the first time in nearly fifty years, United States had neither single major opponent nor rivalry coalitions that can be a menace to the national security of the American mainland. Along with the position between two oceans and the superiority in both military and economic strength, this superpower nation still felt safe and confident. However, this confidence, in turn, might led the American to underestimate the non-state actor: al-Qaeda. Besides, the dominant position of U.S in international relation gave the Americans the desire not only to keep the number one power but also to be the one that "would not permit any potential opponent to acquire the means to be the dominant power in its own region or even to defend itself against U.S attack" (Thakur, 2008). The war against Iraq illustrated the predominance of U.S power and unlimited desire. On the other hand, this war as well as previous intervention of U.S in the Middle East created more Islamic extremists who were hostile toward the American.

Finally , the cause of the 9/11 event, at the global level, could be attributable to a clash between two civilizations which are Islamic and the West. The theory of the "The Clash of Civilizations" (1996), developed by Harvard political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, stated that civilization was the highest unit of human identity. As different civilizations have distinct history, language, culture, tradition and, especially, religion from each other, it is the most potential factor that can cause conflicts. In this article, Huntington (1993) argued that the end of Cold War gave rise to the inter-civilization conflicts, allowing them to develop and gain strength. After the Cold War, the Western countries desired to maintain their dominance in economics, politics and military and to expand the Western values and influence to other nations or, in other words, civilizations with the purpose of creating more alliances. However, this aspiration would increase chance arising the conflict between "the West versus the Rest" (Huntington, 1993, p.39). From this point of view, it can be seen that the inter-conflict between the Islam and the West could be the consequence of this ambition and that the clash probably establish a new doctrine: international terrorism.

In conclusion, the four levels of analysis have indicated the possible explanations for the occurrence of the 11th September terrorist attacks; they are, respectively, : Bin laden's hostility, the failures in U.S foreign policy, the predominant position of the U.S and the clash of civilizations. In general, there may be more reasons surrounding the event; however, the attack has still made a profound impact on not only United States but also the history of mankind. The world in the 21st century has witnessed a new kind of enemy - terrorism. Up until now, this enemy has not been eradicated and, moreover, it has come into a new wave which is more dangerous and complex : ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).

REFERENCE

• Atkins, S. (2011). Preface. InThe 9/11 Encyclopedia(Second ed., Vol. 1, p. Xiv). ABC-CLIO.
• Bhushan, R. (2001, September 17). Osama Bin Laden CIA’s Toy Gone Awry. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.worldpress.org/1101binladen_cia.htm
• Bin laden, O. (2002, February 24). Letter to America. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver
• Glain, S. (2011, May 3). What Actually Motivated Osama bin Laden. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/stephen-glain/2011/05/03/what-actually-motivated-osama-bin-laden
• Atkins, S. (2011). The Impact of 9/11 On U.S. Foreign Policy. InThe 9/11 Encyclopedia(Second ed., Vol. 1, p. 1). ABC-CLIO
• Persian Gulf War. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/persian-gulf-war
• Griffin, D. (2013, September 10). 9/11 Contradictions: Bush in the Classroom on the Morning of September 11, 2001. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.globalresearch.ca/9-11-contradictions-bush-in-the-classroom/8555
• Thakur, R. (2008, October 11). Post-Cold War era over, but not U.S. primacy. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.cigionline.org/articles/2008/10/post-cold-war-era-over-not-us-primacy
• Huntington, S. (1993). The Clash of Civilizations? Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/Huntington_Clash.pdf