“The owl of Minerva takes flight at dusk.” Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom, and this saying suggests that the meaning of events only becomes clear once they are over. It is still far too soon to assess the full impact of September 11 on American life and the long-term consequences of the changes at home and abroad it inspired.
As of the end of 2009, the world seemed far more unstable than anyone could have predicted when the Cold War ended nearly twenty years earlier. An end to the war on terror seemed as remote as ever. The future of Iraq and Afghanistan remained uncertain, and Pakistan, traditionally the closest ally of the United States in that volatile region, experienced serious political instability. No settlement of the long-standing conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors seemed in sight. Iran, its power in the region enhanced by the American removal of its chief rival, Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, appeared to be bent on acquiring nuclear weapons, which the United States vowed to prevent, raising the prospect of future conflict. Other regions of the world also presented daunting problems for American policymakers. North Korea had acquired nuclear weapons and refused international pressure to give them up. China’s rapidly growing economic power posed a challenge to American predominance. A series of Latin American countries elected presidents who rejected the doctrines of globalization and global free trade pressed so insistently by the United States.
Seeking the lessons of history: a young visitor at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
No one could predict how any of these crises, or others yet unimagined, would be resolved. And taking a longer view, a study by American intelligence agencies predicted that by 2025 the United States would remain the world’s most powerful nation, but that its economic and military predominance will have declined significantly. A “multipolar world,” with countries like China and India emerging as major powers, would succeed the era of unquestioned American dominance. How the continuing global financial crisis would affect these developments remained to be seen.
What is clear is that September 11 and its aftermath drew new attention to essential elements of the history of American freedom. As in the past, freedom is central to Americans’ sense of themselves as individuals and as a nation. Americans continue to debate contemporary issues in a political landscape shaped by ideas of freedom. Indeed, freedom remains, as it has always been, an evolving concept, its definition open to disagreement, its boundaries never fixed or final. Freedom is neither self-enforcing nor self-correcting. It cannot be taken for granted, and its preservation requires eternal vigilance, especially in times of crisis.
More than half a century ago, the African-American poet Langston Hughes urged Americans both to celebrate the freedoms they enjoy and to remember that freedom has always been incomplete:
There are words like Freedom
Sweet and wonderful to say.
On my heartstrings freedom sings
All day everyday.
There are words like Liberty
That almost make me cry.
If you had known what I know
You would know why.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe how President Bush’s foreign policy initiatives departed from the traditional policies practiced by every president since World War II.
2. Plow did September 11 transform America’s stance toward the world?
3. What were the roots of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq?
4. Was Iraq another Vietnam for the United States? Explain.
5. What impact did the war on terror have on liberties at home?
6. What were the major thrusts of the Bush administration’s economic policies?
7. How did Supreme Court decisions since 2001 indicate that the rights revolution was here to stay?
8. What were the political effects of Hurricane Katrina?
9. How were the business scandals of the Bush era similar to those of the 1920s and 1990s?
10. What factors led to the rapid rise and political success of Barack Obama?
FREEDOM QUESTIONS
1. Do you think President Bush was correct in saying that the country’s antagonists “hate our freedom” Explain.
2. Did the war on terror strike the proper balance between freedom and security?
3. How did the war on terror expand the powers of the president?
4. In what ways did the Obama campaign connect with the history of American freedom?
5. Given what you now know about American history, what is your definition of American freedom, and how is it best attained?
