ABSTRACT
The destructive power of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the two prime symbols of American economy and power, plus the failed attempt to strike the White House by a fourth passenger jet, generated the media image of unthinkable madness, the outrageous blasphemy involved in attacking highly revered symbols, and the willingness to engage in self-sacrifice, in addition to the killing of roughly three thousand innocent individuals of differing nationalities and religions. US and European differences in post-Cold War threat perceptions became even more pronounced once it became clear that the second phase of the "war on terrorism" would focus not just on the activities of specific terrorist groups, but would target states other than Afghanistan. Post-Cold War geopolitical relationships had already begun a major geotectonic shift following Soviet collapse, European unification, and the rise of China as a regional power with increasingly global interests.
