ABSTRACT
The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC and the crashing of the United Airlines plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, shocked not only the United States but the entire world. The events also triggered significant changes in the character of relations among major international and regional actors. Most notably, they generated widespread consensus about the necessity and urgency of dealing with international terrorism which, as demonstrated by the events of 11 September, had acquired new dimensions. Consequently, an important question has arisen: can 11 September be considered as the defining moment of the beginning of the twenty-first century, in terms of the issues of war and peace, the nature of international relations and the character of the international system? And depending on the answer, can at least the first decade of the twenty-first century be characterized as the “post-11 September era?”
