Globalisation is the emergence of a complex web of interconnectedness, which means our lives are increasingly shaped by events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Therefore geographical distance is of declining relevance and that territorial borders are becoming less significant. In addition, rather than implying that the 'local' and the 'national' are subordinated to the 'global', globalisation highlights the broadening of the political process, where local and global events constantly interact.
The event of 9/11 was a coordinated series of terrorist attacks, launched against the thr USA, on the 11th September 2001 and were conducted by Osama bin Laden (Head of the al-Qaedo organisations). The 9/11 attacks included four hijacked passenger jet airliners, in which two had crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. The third airliner crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the Department of Defence), based outside of Washington DC, whilst the fourth airliner crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when the passengers on board tried to seize control of the plane: it was believed that this one intended to crash into the White House or the US Capitol. As a result, none of the passengers on the four flights had survived and a total of 2995 people were killed in these attacks.
The 9/11 attacks links with globalisation because they were carried out to exert a symbolic blow against the cultural, political and ideological domination of the West, rather than conquering territory. (Remember, territorial borders are becoming less significant in globalisation). Globalisation is where the world is shaped by events, which applies in the 9/11 attacks because it has sometimes been described as 'the day the world changed.' The world was changed by the terrorist attacks because it led to the unfolding of the 'war on terror' and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, which created more conflict between Islam and the West. This was due to actions of the US-led military where they launched an assault on Afghanistan, in November 2001, that toppled the Taliban regime within weeks. This war attracted broad international support and became only the second example of the UN endorsing military action. This enforces globalisation of security because it shows that the USA has the capacity for self defence, and therefore national security placed a premium on military power. However, on the other hand, 9/11 and the wider threat of terrorism has highlighted the emergence of new security challenges, which includes the fact that they arise from non-state actors, and the exploitation of the greater interconnectedness of the modern world.
Nevertheless, 9/11 may have indicated that America would return to 'business as normal' instead of creating a new era in global security. The vital importance of 'national security' was underlined by the advent of a globalised world, thus the emergence of new security challenges and transnational terrorism, re-emphasising the core role of the state protecting its citizens from external attack. 9/11 also gave the USA a renewed significance because their response was building up state power at home by strengthening 'homeland security', and abroad through increasing military spending and invading Afganistan and Iraq. As a result of becoming more pronounced in its foreign policy, the USA were less concerned with international organisations of various kinds.
This dramatic shift in global security established the end of the period when globalisation and the cessation of superpower rivalry appeared to have been associated with a diminishing propensity for international conflict. For example, 9/11 illustrated how fragile national borders had become in a technological age, and showed that the 'external' threat came from a terrorist organisation, (that appeared to operate more as a global network), instead of another state.
The motivations behind the 9/11 attacks were carried out in the name of a religiously inspired ideology: militant Islamism, which disagrees with the culture and politics of the West. This provoked the establishment of the belief that 9/11 was evidence of an emerging 'clash of civilisation.'
Ultimately, the 9/11 terrorist attacks contributed to globalisation as it certainly shaped the lives of many people around the world and it did affect the politics and security of many countries. It could be claimed that 9/11 was an example of cultural globalisation because these events did bring different
cultures, religions and nations together in time of such crisis. However, these attacks may have condensed cultural globalisation as it did expand the tension and conflict between Islam and the West.
