Should we forget September 11?

My name is Daniel Block and I’m a potential Economics concentrator here although I have a diverse array of interests. As a current sophomore, I have taken multiple courses in Spanish (and visited Latin America), closely follow what transpires in the Middle East (as I feel a strong affiliation with Israel), and explored coursework in several different economic modes. This semester, I am taking three courses in economics, two of which pertain directly to international affairs – economics of the middle east and intermediate macroeconomics. As I also take an interest in investing and like to be informed about what is happening in our world, exposing myself to the multidisciplinary approach to international relations that this course provides is a valuable resource. In particular, I appreciate the combination of political philosophy and historical context to root contemporary issues and provide insight into the patterns that surface today. This relates to two other fascinations of mine, philosophy and history, that I have yet to examine with respect to political relevance.

With respect to the question posed in class today, (Should we forget September 11th?), and the work that the Global Security Matrix appears to be doing to examine and rank the grand array of international threats that exist beyond terrorism in the contemporary world, I think it is important not to lose sight of the imminent threat that terrorism poses. September 11th no longer simply refers to the tragic events of that date, but now is symbolic of the current global age whereby terrorists are capable of operating beyond state boundaries and are more capable of inflicting serious harm on the world than any one state will. Given this new age where unclassifiable, amorphous, covert operators can upset the world balance more than individual states, I would be highly concerned with removing 9/11 from memory. To forget 9/11 is to forget what it represents: terrorism as a threat to global security. In effect, it would be similar to refusing to consider the harm that CFCs and Greenhouse gases have inflicted on the climate or ignoring the term Global Warming when considering current threats to the environmental well-being of the planet. This would be absurd just as forgetting the biggest terrorist attack in an era with international conflict and trauma that is dominated by terrorism is outrageous. When we consider 9/11 as part of a system of events that have signaled a change in world order dominated by the intellectual and physical rise in power of extremism, its significance becomes undeniable.

Having said this, I want to caution that although I believe unflinchingly that terrorism is the most imminent threat to the safety of the Western World today, I do not condone the way emotional appeals to 9/11 have often been used to garner support for illegitimate causes or misguided missions. Furthermore, I do not believe that terrorism should be the sole focus of international relations as other significant threats to global security certainly predominate as well. Nevertheless, I believe that US foreign policy should have resolution of the terrorist threat as one of its primary objectives with September 11th as a reminder of the stakes of failing to achieve this goal. I was surprised by the relatively moderate ranking that terrorism received from participants of the Matrix in terms of severity. While I do not condone pursuing military intervention with heads of states to combat subversive forces operating with that state, I do support the intention to focus on eradication of terrorism as a central theme to international relations. Clearly, the current methods for combating terrorism, particularly deceitful in light of September 11th references, have been largely unsuccessful. But that does not mean the priority is misguided. To forget September 11th is to forget the problem because there is as of yet no viable solution. Eliminating terrorism as a concern will not eliminate its threat. By forgetting September 11th, we would be ignoring the greatest threat to world stability of this generation.

Posted by Dan R. Block on September 14, 2007 12:17 PM | Permalink

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