US Foreign Policy Post 9/11
On September 11th, 2001, nineteen members of Al Qaeda hijacked four planes to commit an act of terrorism and forever change The United States. This moment in history is now known as 9/11, the day thousands of US citizens died, the day the twin towers fell, and the day that sparked change in United States foreign policies. Before 9/11 the United States played hero, the only remaining super power, saving other countries from themselves. After 9/11, the US stopped fighting countries and started fighting non-state actors. They joined a war on terror and started taking preventive measures against their enemies, the new motto being, “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”(Tarzi).
After the fall of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, and before the 9/11 attacks, the United States fought in several smaller conflicts that weren’t officially wars. These include events like the invasion of Panama, the first Gulf War and the fighting in Somalia. According to the United States government these were police actions, done for protection, to help other countries better themselves, and because they followed the US’s principles. While these might have been some of the reasons the US sent troops around the globe, the predominant reasons were because it improved the United States’ social standings and increased their power/influence in the world. Before 9/11 the US interacted with other countries directly, and legally, in order to spread its’ ideals throughout the world. Post 9/11 the United States turned its eyes toward terrorism. …show more content…
Many different measures were taken to overcome the terrorist network and to stop the crimes it committed (Hassen). Warfare tactics altered from approaches such as containment to those that were preventive. The suspicion, or conviction that a nation had ties with terrorism was enough for the US to take action. This can be seen in the war against Iraq that launched in 2003: it began long before any actual fighting when President Bush told the UN that it was believed Iraq had access to weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism. The UN passed a resolution that Iraq agreed with; they sent weapons inspectors to Iraq, and over a course of time it was reported that no weapons as described could be found (Costly). Still the United States was convinced Iraq had terrorist ties, that it was a rogue state, and acted with a group of allies to wage war on Iraq. The initial attack lasted several weeks, and “toppled the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein”(Costly). The Iraqi War was later said to be an illegal and unilateral war, led by the US without the support of the United Nations. This just goes to show how deep the idea of preventive war ran in the United States. The United States was not always clear with the courses of action they chose to take. The idea that everyone who had no terrorist ties was an ally, put the US in situations with countries that they would not usually work with. An example of this would be their alliance with Pakistan. In efforts to get close enough to Afghanistan to throw the Taliban out of power, (so they couldn’t harbour Al Qaeda members) the United States and Pakistan formed a strenuous relationship. The United States was never completely convinced that Pakistan had no
On September 11th, 2001, nineteen members of Al Qaeda hijacked four planes to commit an act of terrorism and forever change The United States. This moment in history is now known as 9/11, the day thousands of US citizens died, the day the twin towers fell, and the day that sparked change in United States foreign policies. Before 9/11 the United States played hero, the only remaining super power, saving other countries from themselves. After 9/11, the US stopped fighting countries and started fighting non-state actors. They joined a war on terror and started taking preventive measures against their enemies, the new motto being, “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”(Tarzi).
After the fall of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, and before the 9/11 attacks, the United States fought in several smaller conflicts that weren’t officially wars. These include events like the invasion of Panama, the first Gulf War and the fighting in Somalia. According to the United States government these were police actions, done for protection, to help other countries better themselves, and because they followed the US’s principles. While these might have been some of the reasons the US sent troops around the globe, the predominant reasons were because it improved the United States’ social standings and increased their power/influence in the world. Before 9/11 the US interacted with other countries directly, and legally, in order to spread its’ ideals throughout the world. Post 9/11 the United States turned its eyes toward terrorism. …show more content…
Many different measures were taken to overcome the terrorist network and to stop the crimes it committed (Hassen). Warfare tactics altered from approaches such as containment to those that were preventive. The suspicion, or conviction that a nation had ties with terrorism was enough for the US to take action. This can be seen in the war against Iraq that launched in 2003: it began long before any actual fighting when President Bush told the UN that it was believed Iraq had access to weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism. The UN passed a resolution that Iraq agreed with; they sent weapons inspectors to Iraq, and over a course of time it was reported that no weapons as described could be found (Costly). Still the United States was convinced Iraq had terrorist ties, that it was a rogue state, and acted with a group of allies to wage war on Iraq. The initial attack lasted several weeks, and “toppled the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein”(Costly). The Iraqi War was later said to be an illegal and unilateral war, led by the US without the support of the United Nations. This just goes to show how deep the idea of preventive war ran in the United States. The United States was not always clear with the courses of action they chose to take. The idea that everyone who had no terrorist ties was an ally, put the US in situations with countries that they would not usually work with. An example of this would be their alliance with Pakistan. In efforts to get close enough to Afghanistan to throw the Taliban out of power, (so they couldn’t harbour Al Qaeda members) the United States and Pakistan formed a strenuous relationship. The United States was never completely convinced that Pakistan had no