Twenty-five years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the consequences of that tragic morning continue to shape global politics, national security, public policy, and everyday life. In a special BU Today feature marking the anniversary, several Pardee experts reflected on the far-reaching effects of 9/11, from the expansion of surveillance and security systems to the wars that followed, the evolution of terrorism, and the changing nature of power of the United States. Together, their perspectives reveal how an event that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and launched the Global War on Terror continues to influence the world.

From the Pardee School of Global Studies, faculty members Noora Lori, Jack Weinstein, and Joseph Wippl examined how 9/11 reshaped international affairs, while Rosella Cappella Zielinski, who also holds a position in the Department of Political Science, explored the economic consequences of America's post-9/11 military response. Their reflections highlight enduring questions about security, governance, intervention, alliance-building, and the long-term costs of war.

Noora Lori, Associate Professor of International Relations and Director of the Pardee School's Middle East-North Africa Initiative (MENA), argues that one of 9/11's least discussed but most consequential legacies is the transformation of identification systems around the world. In the years following the attacks, biometric technologies moved from the margins to the center of global security infrastructure.

"Prior to 2001, only one state issued biometric passports; today more than 140 do. Biometrics became central to security vetting, allowing governments to verify travelers against expanding databases and watchlists. Access to visa-free travel pressured states to adopt new standards or risk exclusion from an emerging global mobility regime. But an infrastructure built on secure mobility also raises the evidentiary burden of proving: I am who I say I am. That burden increasingly extends beyond international travelers to entire populations."

Lori explains that while these tools can streamline travel for those whose identities are easily verified, they can also create obstacles for people with contested citizenship, incomplete records, disabilities, or other barriers to documentation. According to Lori, the post-9/11 world has become increasingly organized around verifiability, creating new forms of inclusion and exclusion based on one's ability to prove identity.

Jack Weinstein

Drawing on his experience as a U.S. Air Force colonel on September 11, Jack Weinstein, Professor of the Practice of International Security and retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General, reflects on how the attacks permanently deepened America's military commitments in the Middle East. Despite repeated efforts by successive administrations to shift strategic attention elsewhere, he argues that 9/11 entrenched U.S. involvement in the region in ways that still shape foreign policy today.

"More recently, Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury have further tied the US to the Middle East, diverting resources and military capabilities needed for the Indo-Pacific and once again drawing America into the quicksand of the region."

For Weinstein, however, the most significant lesson extends beyond military engagements. He contends that America's greatest strategic advantage has long been its network of allies and partners. As geopolitical competition intensifies, he warns that weakening those relationships risks undermining the very foundation of U.S. influence, making alliance-building just as important to national security as military capabilities.

For Joseph Wippl, Professor of the Practice of International Relations and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, the most enduring impacts of 9/11 stem not from the attacks themselves but from the decisions made afterward. Wippl argues that the U.S. was justified in targeting those responsible for the attacks and dismantling the Taliban regime that provided safe haven to Al-Qaeda. Yet he believes the broader Global War on Terror eventually expanded beyond those objectives.

 "The Bush administration used the Global War on Terrorism to pursue another agenda. The target was Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein. The motivations were many, including regime change leading to stability in the region and settling scores against this brutal dictator. A case was made that Hussein was pursuing weapons of mass destruction to use against Iraq’s enemies. Unverified foreign sources were used to make the case against him."

Wippl points to the Iraq War as a pivotal example, arguing that policymakers used the aftermath of 9/11 to pursue unrelated strategic goals. The result, he notes, was a conflict that cost thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and trillions of dollars. His reflection serves as a cautionary reminder that national trauma can lead governments toward decisions whose costs and consequences last for generations.

While much of the discussion surrounding 9/11 focuses on security and foreign policy, Rosella Cappella Zielinski, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies, examines a less visible consequence: how the U.S. finances military conflict. She argues that one of the most enduring legacies of the post-9/11 era is the shift toward funding wars through debt rather than through the traditional budgetary sacrifices that accompanied previous conflicts.

"The attacks on 9/11 led the United States into two wars—Afghanistan and Iraq—and spurred counterterrorism operations affecting upwards of 85 countries. The nonprofit Costs of War Project estimates that $8 trillion has been spent on these collective military actions. These costs will continue: caring for veterans will reach between $2.2 and 2.5 trillion by 2050 and interest payments on these debt funded actions will reach $2 trillion by 2030. These economic costs pale in comparison to the human (direct and indirect deaths in the millions), social (human rights and civil liberties curtailed), and environmental costs."

Cappella Zielinski notes that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with broader counterterrorism operations, generated trillions of dollars in costs that continue to accumulate through debt servicing and long-term care for veterans. By moving war spending outside traditional budget processes, she argues, policymakers created a "Ghost Budget" that reduced the immediate visibility of the financial burden. Her analysis highlights how the economic effects of 9/11 remain embedded not only in national security policy, but also in the country's fiscal future.

Together, these reflections underscore the complexity of 9/11's legacy. Beyond the attacks themselves, the event transformed how governments identify and monitor people, altered the trajectory of American foreign policy, reshaped relationships with allies, and changed the way military interventions are financed. Twenty-five years later, the insights of Pardee scholars demonstrate that understanding 9/11 requires not only remembering the attacks, but also critically examining the decisions and systems that emerged in their aftermath.