ABSTRACT
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by Al Qaeda against the Trade Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington represent the defining moments of twenty-first century national security policy for the United States and by extension for many other areas of the world. Coming on the heels of the relative tranquility (especially in retrospect) of the national security environment of the 1990s and despite warnings in advance that were ignored or underemphasized, they were a seismic event that has helped frame the national perspective on the world in ways similar to the impact of Pearl Harbor and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on earlier generations. The United States is still grappling with the residue of that terrible day in many ways, most prominently including the impact on how Americans think, organize, and deal with issues of national security. Just as the Cold War has placed a broad parameter around the American military organization and effort in the national security arena, the aftermath of 9/11 provides the more immediate framework within which the contemporary American national security debate occurs.
