ABSTRACT
The 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 brought the issue of terrorism to the forefront of Western security thinking and resulted in the declaration of a ‘global war on terror’ by the George W. Bush administration. Because of the suddenness of the attacks, the large numbers of people killed (c.3,000) and the targeting of two hugely important symbols of American life, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the reaction was both vigorous and extended, leading to the termination of regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
