9/11 and International Relations

Paper Summary:

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and subsequent attacks can be understood through a careful consideration of the four levels of analysis of international relations. The paper shows that the individual level of analysis allows us to better understand George W. Bush's reactions, while the domestic level of analysis provides an explanation for the country's lack of preparedness for 9/11. At the interstate level, the interaction of the United States with Islamic states and Israel can be linked to the terrorist actions. At a global level, gaps in wealth and technology can be seen to contribute to the terrorist attacks. The paper shows that, overall, the global level provides the most useful understanding of the attacks, although a simultaneous analysis of all four levels reveals a more complete understanding.

From the Paper:

"Overall, it is this global level of analysis that seems to best facilitate understanding of the crisis. The global view provides some answers to the reactions of shock and disbelief that segments of the world could hate America so much that they would commit the acts of 9-11. At the same, time, the global level of analysis fails to give a really adequate understanding of America's response to the terrorist actions that is provided in the domestic view, or an understanding of the actions of individual actors revealed in an individual analysis."

More papers on 9/11 and International Relations:

• Comparison Essay # 110129 : "Cultural relations in the Wake of 9/11"
• Analytical Essay # 53377 : "First-Strike Military Aggression"
• Analytical Essay # 138652 : "Effects of 9/11 on Iraq/Iran"

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