9 1 1 The origin and influence of terrorist attacks

After the September 1 1 terrorist attacks in the United States, many people discussed it extensively from different angles. In particular, how to deal with the impact of terrorist activities and the "9 1 1" terrorist attacks has become the topic of mainstream forums. However, the "9 1 1" terrorist attack not only affected a country or showed that the whole world must unite to annihilate these inhuman acts of destruction, but also had epoch-making significance. We must realize the essence and significance of things. With the theme of "the end of American unilateralism", this paper focuses on the origin and historical significance of the "9 1 1" incident from the perspectives of history, geopolitics and economy. But first of all, it should be noted that this article is different from the gloating discussion circulating on the Internet at present, and mainly refers to some opinions of Japanese and American experts.

The Origin of "9 1 1" Event

Judging from the targets of terrorist attacks (World Trade Center symbolized by American wealth and Pentagon symbolized by American military) and the weapons used by terrorists (planes of American Airlines and United Airlines), there is no doubt that the main target of terrorists this time is the United States. Why are terrorists targeting the United States? Regarding this issue, some commentators believe that the failure of the US Middle East policy is the fuse of this incident; Others believe that "the intensification of the conflict between Islamic civilization and western civilization is the essence of this attack on the United States"; In addition, it is pointed out that "the expansion of the rich and the poor is the root of the' 911'terrorist attack".

From the perspectives of "the conflict between Islamic civilization and western civilization has been going on for 1300 years" and "the poor in developing countries are in a miserable situation", there is indeed some truth. But this incident was committed by some radicals, not mainstream Islamists. At the same time, the "9 1 1" incident is unconvincing only from the perspective of the expansion of the rich and the poor.

The author believes that the root (essence) of the "9 1 1" terrorist incident is closely related to the existing world system and the international political and economic order led by the United States, and of course the failure of the US Middle East policy is also one of the factors. After the end of the Cold War, all countries in the world thought that mankind might usher in an unprecedented era of peace, but in fact, under the unjust international order, ethnic disputes and regional disputes have become more intense, and the gap between the rich and the poor between the North and the South has also widened.

Moreover, where the people of Islamic countries and other ethnic groups are in conflict, especially in dealing with Israel and Palestine, the United States not only fails to shoulder the real mediation task, but relies on power politics to show one-sided inequality. The essence of "9 1 1" incident is the challenge of terrorists to American power politics. This is also the main reason why the Bush administration believes that the "9 1 1" terrorist incident is an act of war. Through the "9 1 1" incident, we can be sure that the United States is facing an important turning point. At present, the national strength and foundation of the United States have not been fundamentally shaken, but American unilateralism is coming to an end. Its historical significance is mainly manifested in the following three points.

Historical significance of "9 1 1" incident

First, American isolationism will come to an end, and international coordination will become the main axis of 2 1 century.

As we all know, after Bush took office, the most prominent feature of his foreign policy was "unilateralism". Ignoring the entreaties of European allies, the Bush administration unilaterally withdrew from the Kyoto Agreement on Environmental Protection, refused to accept the verification provisions of the international treaty banning chemical and biological weapons, refused to participate in international negotiations to control the trade in light weapons, and insisted on unilaterally withdrawing from the ABM Treaty.

However, after the "9 1 1" terrorist attack, it can't wait to invoke NATO's "collective defense" clause to bring in European "allies" to jointly deal with "acts of war". At the same time, in order to organize an "international anti-terrorist alliance", the United States had to win over its former enemy, Russia, and its new enemy, China; The United States also asked Japan to enact new laws and send troops to support it; More symbolically, in order to gain the support of the United Nations, the United States Congress also voted to pay long-term arrears to the United Nations. Under the great threat of international terrorism, American isolationism had to be temporarily stopped.

It can be predicted that in the future, anti-terrorism will surely become one of the main axes of the future development of international relations. The trend of anti-terrorism will appear in various international organizations, including economy and environmental protection, and the governments of member countries will strengthen cooperation in this regard for the legitimacy and stability of their own rule.

Second, the "myth of American homeland security" has been completely shattered, and it is imperative to change the strategic thinking of national defense.

Since the war of independence, the United States has not suffered any attacks; In addition, as the only superpower in the world today, the United States has a strong military force, and Americans have always believed that "the United States has no chance of war." However, this time, the unprecedented attack on local land completely shattered the American "security myth" and suffered great psychological trauma. In the future, the idea of increasing defense spending to strengthen American security will become stronger.

However, it should be pointed out that in recent years (before the "9 1 1" incident), the strategic thinking of American national security is changing, emphasizing that the main threats to American national security and American life in the future will come from so-called "rogue countries" and "potentially challenging countries". Based on this new strategic thinking, the US military has also accelerated the development of the National Missile Defense System (NMD). But from this cold-blooded incident, we can see that the number one enemy of the United States is not Russian or China, but terrorism.

In fact, in the four-year defense assessment report released by the U.S. Department of Defense on June 5438+ 10/,it was clearly stated that the primary task of the U.S. military should be changed to local defense and strengthen its ability to respond to sudden attacks. This new transformation is to carry out the transformation of fewer nuclear weapons and fine quality, supplemented by the upgrading of traditional forces and strengthening the deployment of rapid strike forces.

However, with the development of Internet-centered communication technology, many people turn their eyes to high technology, thinking that the future war will depend on high-tech weapons, not manpower. However, the weapon used by terrorists this time is not high technology, but a knife. This incident shows that terrorists can cause serious damage to the world without using high-tech or sophisticated weapons, and the theory of military high-tech omnipotence has come to an end.

In addition, one of the main reasons why the US security department didn't grasp the intelligence of terrorist activities this time was that it relied too much on high technology. It is said that CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) collects intelligence through people, and NRO (National Reconnaissance Bureau) and NSA (National Security Intelligence Agency) collect intelligence through high-tech communication networks. However, in recent years, because the United States has excessively pursued the latter to collect intelligence, terrorists who hijacked passenger planes have succeeded. In the future, all countries in the world will get profound enlightenment from this lesson of the United States.

Third, the world economy is facing a turning point, and economic globalization may deteriorate.

After the "9 1 1" incident, global stock markets reacted strongly to the "9 1 1" incident. It turned out that at the end of last year, the bubble economy represented by it began to burst and the American economy fell into recession. However, the "9 1 1" incident not only brought economic losses to the United States, but also may drag down the further recession of the American economy. In fact, the aviation industry, tourism industry and hotel industry directly related to this incident have been severely hit. In addition, according to the report of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the pillar industries in the United States have also been hit, and General Motors has to close some factories.

Not only that, Japan and Europe are also implicated, and their economies are going downhill. The simultaneous economic downturn in the United States, Japan and Europe is the first phenomenon since the Second World War. No wonder the former Japanese financial officer (now a professor at Keio University) thinks that the world economy is facing a turning point in history. In order to prevent the global economy from deteriorating, developed countries urgently need to adjust their policies.

In addition, Professor Mihiko Benshan, a Japanese economist who specializes in the world economy and director of the Department of Economics of Kyoto University (former president of the Japan Economic Association), published an article in The Economist magazine, arguing that the "9 1 1" terrorist incident is a defect of "financial globalization" centered on the United States; The trade deficit of the United States has lasted for decades, and the dollar is also facing a flaw crisis; Financial liberalization has not only brought tangible benefits to the world, but also the financial consortia led by the United States (IMF, WTO and other international institutions) have entered a state of paralysis. This year's anti-WTO demonstration is a manifestation; American military retaliation only covers up and restores the failure of economic policy. Therefore, Professor Mihiko Sakamoto believes that American-style finance will have to be revised in the future.

"Dialogue and symbiosis of civilizations" is an important topic facing mankind in the 2 1 century.

A few days ago, although President Bush once again assumed the posture of "the boss of the United States" and asked all countries to support the United States in participating in the war in a similar threatening tone: "Do countries have to decide whether to stand on our side or on the side of terrorists?" However, some countries, including Saudi Arabia, still oppose the use of force to attack Afghanistan.

In fact, retaliatory military action can not completely eliminate terrorism, but may aggravate the confrontation between civilizations and the spread of terrorism. Before the revenge war began, hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghans were forced to leave their homes and become refugees, and millions of them were even more hungry and cold. Pakistan's military regime also has to support US military retaliation to avoid being regarded as a "rogue country" sheltering terrorism by the United States. However, the political situation in Pakistan has been chaotic recently, and the current regime is also facing a crisis.

In any case, terrorism and war are cruel and barbaric. There is no "humanitarian terrorism" or "humanitarian war". Because the basic essence of "humanity" is respect and care for people, while war and terrorism are denial of people, including deprivation of basic life rights. Peace-loving people don't want to see war. In order to eradicate terrorism and war, it is necessary for all countries in the world to strengthen communication and cooperation, conduct "civilized dialogue" on the basis of mutual respect, reduce differences through mutual understanding, establish a reasonable new international political and economic order, and let all countries and nations find their proper position and realize symbiosis!

Excerpted from International Finance News (seventh edition, 2006 54 38+0 1 10/5).