911
It took more than nine years, but the United States on May 2, 2011, found and killed the al-Qaeda leader who bankrolled the 9/11 attacks. The threat of terrorism remains, as al-Qaeda-related groups surface in parts of the Middle East and Africa. Meanwhile, the use of unmanned aircraft for surveillance and missile attacks have outraged many worldwide, as have detention practices from Afghanistan and Iraq to Guantanamo. The defenders of these practices say extraordinary measures have been necessary to keep a targeted United States safe.
The intelligence state has mushroomed We have more government intrusion in our lives post-9/11, from more restrictive air travel regulations to increased phone and Internet activity surveillance. Intelligence budgets have skyrocketed, to the $52.6 billion in 2013. (Pictured: the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade, Md.)
After the 2001 attacks, the George W. Bush administration moved quickly into Afghanistan in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the fight against the Taliban. Claiming a link to weapons of mass destruction, it committed the Pentagon to Iraq. The two long wars have sapped America’s appetite for military action, reflected in polls showing nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose even limited military efforts in Syria.
After the 2001 attacks, the George W. Bush administration moved quickly into Afghanistan in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the fight against the Taliban. Claiming a link to weapons of mass destruction, it committed the Pentagon to Iraq. The two long wars have sapped America’s appetite for military action, reflected in polls showing nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose even limited military efforts in Syria.
Hand in hand with that tumult has been the exploding use of Twitter, G-chat, Facebook and similar social media in tightly controlled societies worldwide, all giving voice to people who are denied printing presses and broadcast licenses. Thousands have followed protests in Iran and Egypt — and videos from Syria — through social networks. The pattern has repeated itself across the globe, from China to Brazil, magnified by the explosion in smartphones.