Ten years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, people still remember the collapse of the two World Trade Center towers. But the world has changed in those 10 years.

The 9/11 attacks have greatly changed the Middle East, the U.S. and even the world. But it’s hard to tell who has benefited from the changes and who has been the real victor.

The death of al-Qaida leader, Osama Bin Laden, means the U.S. has finally avenged the 9/11 attacks. More importantly, after the 9/11 attacks the U.S. homeland hasn’t suffered from any new terrorism attack, and all the violent behavior seems to be confined to local areas on the other side of the globe, which seems to show the U.S.’ indestructible strength.

Meanwhile, the security situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is improving with their national armies growing steadily, and two new governments have been established in the Great Middle East region, a place described by former U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld as “unchanged for centuries.”

However, the War on Terror has lasted longer than World War I and World War II and terrorism still has not been completely eradicated despite the combined might of the U.S.’ hard and soft power. Al-Qaida has not been destroyed and has indeed spread to more regions in the world, such as Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan. New terrorism masterminds are constantly emerging. They wage “brain wars” with modern communication methods to cultivate “Trojan horses” inside Western countries.

The U.S. might appear to have gained an advantage over the terrorists, but actually there is now a deadlock.

The U.S.’ overall anti-terrorism target is to eliminate both the terrorists and the wellspring of terrorism, which it has found hard to achieve. The culture of terrorism that is hostile to the West originates from the poor and backward Islamic regions. The U.S. government reiterates that the anti-terrorism war is not cultural conflict and makes efforts to help regions that suffer from terrorism attacks develop democracy and livelihoods. But the task is too difficult for the U.S., which still adheres to its tradition of hegemony. Although Iraq and Afghanistan’s political and social conditions have gradually improved, terrorism has still spread to other regions including countries allied to the U.S.

Bin Laden told the media that he hoped the 9/11 attacks would destroy the U.S.’ economic growth, and it seems they succeeded to some extent. U.S. antiterrorism experts have said that its antiterrorism campaign should bear the main responsibility for the U.S.’ economic recession. President Obama said this year that the U.S.’ 10-year anti-terrorism war has cost $1 trillion, while a study by Brown University in the U.S. puts the actual expenditure at around $3.7 to 4.4 trillion, far more than expenditure on domestic public welfare and economic stimulus.

Furthermore, the anti-terrorism war has severely undermined the U.S.’ image and provoked more anti-U.S. feelings around the world and, while the U.S. has mainly focused on the dangers from Middle East region, there are other areas of potential threat.

Nowadays, new skyscrapers have been built at the site where the World Trade Center once stood. However, according to a recent survey by Time magazine, only 6 percent of the public agrees that the U.S. has emerged from the shadow of the 9/11 attacks and 78 percent of respondents said they worry about more terrorist attacks. More than two-thirds of the respondents expressed discontent with the U.S.’ political system because of the numerous unsolved domestic issues.

Ten years is too short a time to heal the wounds caused by the 9/11 attacks or to eliminate the rancor accumulating from the U.S.’ long-term hegemony. Ten years is a long time for a war, but a short time for a confrontation between nations and ideologies.

The international structure has changed after the U.S.’ War on Terror, but neither the U.S. nor the terrorist organizations are victors. Many people have paid with their lives for the U.S.’ revenge and more people will suffer from the struggle before it ends. 

By Liu Weidong

Liu Weidong is a researcher with the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Science. ― Ed.

(China Daily)

(Asia News Network)