24 years after September 11: How did the world change?

On September 11, 2001, New York and the world were shaken by attacks that changed the course of history. Four kidnapped aircraft, thousands of dead and wounded, and a wound that did not heal in the memory of the Americans and the whole world. Today, after 24 years, it can be said that that day was not merely a security event, but rather a turning point that changed politics, economics, security and even lifestyles around the world.

From the womb of that moment, the “war on terror” was born, which was a slogan for the administration of George W. Bush, to expand later towards Afghanistan and Iraq and redraw political geography in the Middle East. The Taliban regime fell in 2001 and then returned after two stronger decades, while the invasion of Iraq in 2003 led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but it launched a cycle of chaos and sectarian conflicts, to the emergence of the “Sayan” organization.
This is in politics, but in security, travel is no longer the same. Strict inspection, surveillance lists, advanced scanning devices, liquids and luggage restrictions. The airports have turned into first defense lines, and the average citizen became daily lived the repercussions of these attacks through security measures that have become part of the global travel routine. These events also launched a feverish race towards strengthening monitoring systems and expanding the role of giant technology companies in providing governments with data, and discussions on a balance between individual freedom and national security rose. From the two wars to the “Arab Spring”, and from the crises of refugees to the struggles in Syria, Yemen and Libya, the effects of that moment overlapped with the paths of regional division. It also produced changes in international relations, most notably the normalization agreements between some Arab countries and Israel under the American shadow. The world beyond September 11.
Today, after 24 years, it can be said that the “war on terror” has declined as an absolute priority to solve new challenges, but the legacy of September 11 is still present in the world’s security and political structure, and in the collective memory that remembers how one event can turn the scales of the planet.

Source:
Specific Lebanon 24