IT’S BEEN declared so often in the past few months that it’s almost become a given in discussions of public affairs. Sure, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11 were a big event, but the world has gradually slipped back to normal. The Israeli-Palestinian struggle is again front and center, Republicans and Democrats are at each other’s throats once more in Washington, and people have returned to their frivolous pursuits, like frothing over the Oscars. Nothing has fundamentally changed.
My response: This is total nonsense. As David Brooks has pointed out, big, traumatic events in American history have inevitably led to major changes in politics and social life. And September 11 is no exception. In fact, the ramifications of the terrorist assaults that killed 3,000 innocent Americans are global, not just domestic. In truth, everything has changed. Here are five big changes.
How Americans view the world. Even during the Cold War, Americans had a benign view of the world. They could safely travel practically anywhere. Some places were rough and dangerous, but Americans weren’t put in harm’s way because of their nationality. Now Americans (rightly) see the world as a hostile place, where an American passport can be a ticket to trouble. An old phrase has returned, “the civilized world.” It’s the shrunken part of the world where Americans can still feel safe.
The correlation of forces. Charles Krauthammer wrote in The Weekly Standard that the expected didn’t happen once the United States emerged as the world’s lone superpower, or hegemon, in 1991. Normally the weaker nations–say, Russia and China–would band together to challenge the superpower. This occurred against France in the early 19th century and twice against Germany in the 20th. But before this could happen again, September 11 intervened. And it wasn’t a country or a coalition of nations that confronted America. It was radical Islam, eager to drive America from any land ever held by Muslims and aiming ultimately to destroy Western civilization. The fallout was earthshaking. Russia, traditionally leery of the West, made an historic turn to the West, not only joining the war on terrorism but warming up to NATO and especially to America. Not only Pakistan, but India also suddenly became America’s friend, too. In short, a new world order was created.
The oceans are gone. Prior to September 11, the continental United States was protected from attack by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In World War II, the Japanese only reached Hawaii and Alaska. In the Cold War, Soviet missiles could cross the oceans, but they were deterred by U.S. missiles. But deterrence doesn’t work against America’s new foe, Islamic terrorists. And they can penetrate our borders. The September 11 terrorists entered the United States legally and many other terrorists may be here legally as well, waiting for the moment to attack.
Politics is turned upside down. As Ron Brownstein wrote in the Los Angeles Times on March 25, “Republicans are swaggering. Democrats look lost.” James Barnes says in the March 16 National Journal that Republicans are gaining among swing voters who voted for Democrat Al Gore in 2000. Meanwhile, President Bush’s lofty job approval rating is unshakeable. Republicans are experiencing their best poll numbers in decades. And Democrats in Washington have desperately tried issue after issue–tax cuts, Enron, deficit spending–against Bush to no avail. Now they’re reduced to insisting Tom Ridge, Bush’s homeland security adviser, testify on Capitol Hill. Their pathetic battle cry: Give us Tom Ridge–or else. What sparked the GOP resurgence was September 11. It made Republican issues such as national security and defense spending paramount and doused Democratic issues like health care and education. Absent the terrorist attacks, the parties would still be at parity.
The media have sobered up. The overriding question these days in press roundtables and elite journals signals a serious change in media coverage. The issue is whether the press is being too patriotic. Imagine that! Excessive patriotism hasn’t been a factor in the media at least since World War II, if then. In Vietnam, the issue was lack of patriotism. But the attacks on innocent Americans on September 11 softened press attitudes toward the country, the military, the White House, and so on. True, there have been moments of backsliding, with Vietnam-type coverage reappearing, but not many of them. And a number of famous liberal journalists have displayed patriotic stripes: Dan Rather, Geraldo Rivera, Tim Russert, Tom Friedman.
These five changes are merely the most immediately visible ones. Vice President Cheney has noted that we’re still too close to September 11 to gauge its full impact. My guess is when we look back years from now, we’ll see September 11 as a watershed event. And we’ll discover that America and the world were changed in ways that are too subtle or submerged to be detected today.
Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.
