So, what is the straight line that I see drawn from there to here? As others have asked, was 9/11 a day, a moment, or a whole era-defining shift in America‘s understanding and vision of itself at home and abroad? Did the response to 9/11 do as much damage as the attack itself?
I have concluded the answer is yes. My own question is if 20 years on this can be recalibrated, or whether bin Laden‘s attack was actually the beginning of the end of American empire.