As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, analysis from Deakin University's Greg Barton contends the assaults were foreseeable and preventable, and that the subsequent US-led response led to even greater mistakes, reshaping global order for decades.
The September 11, 2001 attacks were unlike anything the world had seen before, according to a new retrospective by Greg Barton, Chair in Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University. Writing for The Conversation, Barton describes the event as a devastating surprise attack that felt like a hinge point in history — a moment that changed everything.
Barton argues the attacks could have been foreseen and prevented, noting that international terrorism was not new in 2001 and that counterterrorism intelligence has evolved massively since. However, he suggests the bigger catastrophe was the cascade of responses that followed, which contributed to the collapse of 80 years of global order.
The piece observes that hundreds of millions watched live as commercial aircraft struck the World Trade Centre towers, and that the devastation seemed to confirm a grim intuition that the world had turned on a new axis. Twenty-five years later, Barton concludes that the failure to stop 9/11 was a tragedy, but the mistakes made in its aftermath were even more consequential.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The 9/11 attacks and the War on Terror fundamentally altered global security, diplomacy, and civil liberties, effects still felt today.
- Barton's argument that the response was a greater mistake than the original failure challenges the dominant narrative of the past 25 years.
- The anniversary prompts ongoing reflection on how nations balance security with human rights and international law.
Background
The September 11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people when hijacked planes hit the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. The US launched a 'Global War on Terror', invading Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. The conflicts led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, the rise of ISIL, and a long-term US military presence in the Middle East. Intelligence failures before 9/11, particularly the inability to connect existing threat indicators, have been widely documented.
Key Perspectives
Greg Barton (Deakin University): The attacks were preventable, and the US-led response — including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq — constituted a series of tragic mistakes that accelerated the breakdown of global order.
Critics of the War on Terror: Many scholars and policymakers argue that the over-militarized response radicalized new adversaries, drained US resources, and undermined legal norms, making the world less safe.
Defenders of the response: Some maintain that the attacks required a forceful military response to dismantle Al-Qaeda and remove hostile regimes, and that hindsight underestimates the threat environment at the time.
What to Watch
- Continued academic and political debate over the legacy of the War on Terror, especially as the 25th anniversary approaches.
- Potential shifts in US foreign policy doctrine as new administrations reassess the lessons of the post-9/11 era.
- Ongoing counterterrorism reforms and intelligence community reviews that may reference the 2001 failures.