ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses how global ethical theorists attempted to enlist a particular notion of trauma and suffering in the events of 9/11. The 9/11 terrorist attack was compared historically to Pearl Harbour in the US – an event marking the complete surprise and humbling of a nation. The tragedy of 9/11 was widely portrayed as marking a traumatic event for the inhabitants of New York and America: many people, 'innocents', died in a horrific and largely uncontrollable fashion. The chapter examines the ethical place that 9/11 can mark a point of identification with vulnerability. It argues that traumatic events such as 9/11 actually present a special set of challenges for grounding an ethical response. Cosmopolitan responses to 9/11 highlight two important tenets: a concern to offer an alternative response to the mainstream, US, media response and a deep concern with how to prevent the productions of future terrorist atrocities.
