Book review of Brian Michael Jenkins and John Paul Godges (Eds.).The Long Shadow of 9/11

What is it about?

The Long Shadow of 9/11 offers detailed discussions on American involvement in Afghanistan after September 11. All the authors come from the RAND Corporation. For many years, RAND has consistently produced fabulous research. The editors asked the senior experts to address various questions, including whether the United States has overreacted to 9/11, what lessons have been learned, what impact did the increased security procedures have on American life, and what are the changes introduced by the so-called “war on terror”.

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Why is it important?

The United States is still on a learning curve. What are the lessons that we have learned thus far? Brian Jenkins contends (p. 207) that security will remain a dominant preoccupation. Christopher Paul argues (p. 110) that prevailing over terrorism and insurgence requires simultaneously combatting armed adversaries and diminishing their support. Paul maintains that the rightness of American values and the wrongness of extremism are not self-evident. Freedom and democracy have different connotations in different parts of the world and are not always viewed in positive terms (p. 106).

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