9/11 20th Anniversary Archives

What schools teach about 9/11 and the war on terror

A survey of U.S. history teachers found they teach about 9/11 primarily on the date of the anniversary. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images Jeremy Stoddard, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Diana Hess, University of Wisconsin-Madison The phrase “Never Forget” is often associated with the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But what does this phrase mean for U.S. students …

9/11 twenty years on: al-Qaida is defeated – but jihadism is here to stay

Maurice Savage / Alamy Stock Photo Christina Hellmich, University of Reading Twenty years ago, the terrorist group al-Qaida carried out the deadliest attack on US soil the world had ever seen. Overnight, al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden became the most notorious terrorist to date. Inspired by pan-Islamist ambitions and outraged by US foreign presence and intervention in the Middle East, …

9/11: how politicians and the media turned terrorism into an Islamic issue

Jared Ahmad, University of Sheffield As we mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, it is important to reflect on the legacy that event – and the “war on terror” more broadly – has had for the way news media cover terrorism. Though we should be clear that terrorism as we define it now predates the attacks by …

9/11: the controversial story of the remains of the World Trade Center

Michael Picard, University of Edinburgh In the months after the 9/11 attack, which killed thousands of people and cost US$40 billion (£29 billion) in damages, the shock at the tower collapse gave way to the monstrous scale of the rescue and clean-up operation in New York. Amid the destruction, an improvised team of volunteers, firefighters, police and detection dogs found …