Wednesday, September 11, 2024, marks the 23rd anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in history — 9/11.

In the wake of the four coordinated attacks carried out by the Islamist extremist group, Al-Qaeda, America went after the attackers and moved to reshape its strategy for national security. As a shocked and grieving America came to grips with terrorism, President George W. Bush’s administration moved to put protective security measures in place, creating the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, and a year later, the Department of Homeland Security.

And the attacks didn’t just stun average Americans — they left national security and military experts just as shocked.

“To say we were caught off-guard was an understatement,” said General Jack Weinstein, professor of the practice of international security at Boston University and a retired Lieutenant General of the United States Air Force who was with President Bush during the 9/11 attacks.

“In 1990, 1991 with Desert Shield and Desert Storm, it looked like the United States military was invulnerable,” he said. “If we wanted to go and do something, the United States military could do that. And then all of a sudden we were caught completely off-guard on 9/11.”

Before 9/11, terrorism itself wasn’t much of a focus even in academic settings, said Max Abrams, associate professor of political science at Northeastern University. When pursuing his doctoral degree at Oxford University, Abrams faced a surprising situation.

“In 2000, I said that I wanted to do something on terrorism,” Abrams said. “And I was told by the faculty in international relations at Oxford that terrorism wasn’t a suitable topic for a thesis, that I wouldn’t be able to find an advisor. And between years one and two, over their quote-unquote ‘summer break,’ 9/11 happened. And when I returned for my second year, they said, ‘Welcome back to Oxford. There’s no better place in the world to study terrorism.’ And so, basically, academia had to rapidly catch up with the new security environment.”

Abrams said now most major research universities have terrorism specialists on faculty.

But in the last 23 years, the conversation about national security has evolved away from terrorism as the main focus. The focus is now on global superpowers, cybersecurity threats, disinformation and even internal security threats.

And although students are still interested in learning about terrorism and 9/11, bigger threats like climate change are more present in their discussions of national security, said Jennifer Erickson, associate professor of political science and international studies at Boston College.

“It’s something that they see as affecting their physical security in their lifetime,” Erickson said. “I also think you pick up on some of these concerns for internal security and populism. And I think a lot of it comes from not necessarily the media that they’re consuming … but from how they perceive the world and what they talk about with each other and what they see as threats to themselves and their generation.”

Guests

  • Jack Weinstein, professor of the practice of international security at Boston University, retired Lieutenant General of the United States Air Force, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration at the Pentagon.
  • Max Abrahms, associate professor of political science at Northeastern University and expert in international security, terrorism, U.S. foreign policy, great power competition, war and the international relations of the Middle East.
  • Jennifer Erickson, associate professor of political science and international studies at Boston College and expert in international security and arms control, conventional and nuclear weapons, and the laws and norms of war.