Is 9/11 Behind Us?

Hassan Aourid, a political science professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, writes in an analysis published by Al Jazeera that the September 11, 2001 attacks were a turning point that pushed the United States into a 'War on Terror.' According to Aourid, this approach not only tarnished America's global image but also weakened the United Nations and led to instability in the Arab world. Aourid argues that the 2003 Iraq War, launched under the pretext of fighting terrorism and democratizing the Middle East, ultimately resulted in chaos and the emergence of new generations of extremism. The analyst notes that Ben Rhodes, a former advisor to Barack Obama, argued in a Foreign Affairs article that the U.S. and the Islamic world were the losers of this war, while China and Israel were the beneficiaries. Aourid also emphasizes that a security-focused approach remains dominant in the Arab world, and the legacy of 'institutionalized sectarianism' introduced in the 2005 Iraqi constitution continues to threaten regional societies. He concludes that despite the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and shifting priorities in Washington, the repercussions of 9/11 still loom over the Arab world, with the Palestinian issue remaining marginalized.