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25 years after 9/11, how much has changed?

Twenty-five years after 9/11, how much has actually changed? 9/11 is one of those rare moments that divides history into a “before” and an “after.” On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer looks back at the attacks that reshaped US foreign policy, launched the war on terror, and ushered in an era of military intervention, mass surveillance, and profound geopolitical change. From the rise of China and Russia as security threats to social media and artificial intelligence reordering our politics and flow of information, the world today looks very different from the one we knew that September morning.

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How 9/11 reshaped America and the world

September 11, 2001 was a day that forever changed America… and the world. It reordered domestic politics, reshaped how Americans thought about national security, and how the United States wielded its enormous power around the world. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 to reflect on the immediate shock of the attacks and their lasting impact on American society and foreign policy. Has the United States learned the right lessons or do we risk repeating the mistakes of the post-9/11 era?
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All we’ve lost

Twenty-five years ago this morning, I rolled out of bed ready for a big day. My return to grad school at New York’s Columbia University was set to kick off that morning with a class called “War, Peace, and Strategy,” and my friend David and I had tickets to Yankee Stadium to see Roger Clemens pitch that evening.

David called early to ask if he could drop by on his way to take his little daughter Zoe to pre-school in my neighborhood. They arrived at my 103rd Street studio apartment, Zoe toddled around the floor, freaking out my cat Buster, while David and I planned where to meet before the game.

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What we're still watching

The air quality

Just a week after the Twin Towers fell, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency declared the air in Lower Manhattan safe to breathe. However, files released by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office last week confirmed that 10 months after the attacks, health officials were still finding evidence of carcinogens like asbestos. The records, rediscovered only last year, suggest that city officials knew toxic chemicals were present yet continued to tell the public the air was safe. More people have died from 9/11-related health problems than those who were killed during the attacks themselves, according to the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund – and 25 years later, that number continues to rise.

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What America got right–and wrong–in the post-9/11 era

The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 radically altered the course of American history. They reshaped our politics and sense of security, sending the country on a completely different arc—from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the sweeping expansion of the national security apparatus. 25 years after that fateful day, has America learned the right lessons or do we risk repeating the mistakes of the post-9/11 era? Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to reflect on how 9/11 changed America and the biggest lessons from the last 25 years of US foreign policy.
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The lasting impact of 9/11 on US leadership

In this ‘ask ian,’ Ian Bremmer reflects on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, examining the long-term consequences of America's response to the attacks.

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Sánchez releases classified documents on Ceuta crisis

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government on Wednesday declassified documents showing that Morocco had knowledge of plans for a mass migrant crossing into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta days before it occurred. The disclosure may be an attempt to deflect some of the backlash Sánchez has faced over the surge of 70,000 people into the tiny North African territory, including mass protests, calls for his resignation, and criticism that his pro-immigration policies left Spain unprepared – all especially perpetuated by the far-right, anti-immigration party Vox that has been rising in the polls ahead of the 2027 election. But the release hasn’t taken the pressure off: critics of Sánchez are saying that the documents also show that some in Spanish intelligence also knew about the plans to cross the border. Both countries have blamed human traffickers and misinformation spread on social media for helping fuel the surge.

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The month after 9/11, terrorism was the most significant concern for Americans. In polling conducted by Gallup, 46% of Americans at the time said terrorism was their top concern. That year, trust in government hit a three-decade high in 2001, buoyed by President George W. Bush’s decisive response to the attacks. When the US invaded Afghanistan in October of that year, 92% of Americans supported the decision.

Fast forward 25 years, the top problems have shifted away from terrorism – less than 1% of respondents ranked it their top problem in August 2026. Instead, the economy is increasingly on voters’ minds as fuel and living costs skyrocket, driven by another US president embarking on a far less popular war in the Middle East.

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When the Pentagon and Twin Towers were struck on September 11, 2001, I was a US diplomat in Taiwan, focused on the globalization push coming from China’s impending accession to the WTO just three months later. My world changed dramatically that day, and 9/11 arguably set the world on a very different course that was felt by all of us, even if we were not living lives in the crosshairs of al-Qaeda.

A month after the attacks, I traveled to Washington for the birth of my younger son, entering an anthrax-fearing US. National Guard troops monitored my arrival at the airport, and American flags flew from many passenger vehicles as I headed to stay with my in-laws. As I helped my wife during an extended stay, the State Department contacted me and asked that I take a couple of days for special training on countering terrorist finance networks. I took that knowledge back to Taiwan, where it shaped the work I did over the years that followed and led me into future efforts tied to countering illicit finance, boosting export controls, and developing sanctions packages.

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Last month, India's Defense Ministry announced that it was nearing a deal with France to purchase 114 Rafale fighter jets and, even more importantly, to collaborate on the development of the next generation of military aircraft. It's a good deal for India, fulfilling a key supply need in its air force and boosting its domestic defense industry, with most of the Rafale jets being built in India. France wins as well, receiving much-needed financing for its project without taking on a partner who'd rewrite its blueprints. But the way France and India arrived at this deal reveals everything that's dangerous in a g-zero world racing to rearm.

Rewind a year ago: France's plan was to work with Spain and Germany on the next generation of military jets. Their collaboration for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) fighter was, at that time, evidence of the emerging European consensus on defense. For decades, the Europeans had underinvested in their militaries, confident in NATO's deterrence through the force of the US's undisputed place as the global hegemon. Yet as American power and security guarantees began to feel wobblier and Russia showed a willingness to use military force on bordering states, Europe raced to build a credible deterrent to Putin.

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In the 25 years since 9/11, the US has pursued counterterrorism operations in dozens of countries around the world. Brown University’s Cost of War Project tracked operations in nearly 80 countries between 2021 and 2023, or roughly 40% of countries worldwide. In most countries where the US conducted operations, it trained or assisted local security forces’ counterterrorism efforts. In the Middle East and North Africa, the US has also carried out proxy missions, called “127e” programs, where local operatives carry out US objectives.

Middle powers take on Israeli West Bank settlements

The UK, Canada, and France announced sanctions on exports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday, later joined by nine additional European countries. In a speech announcing the sanctions – which have significant cross-party support in the UK – Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned “settler terrorists” following an increase in violence in the Israeli-occupied territory. In response, Israel told the UK to close its consulate in Jerusalem. The impact of the sanctions is more symbolic than practical, given that goods and services from Israeli settlements are estimated to make up less than 5% of total Israeli exports. Even so, it marks another shared policy for the so-called “middle powers” amid Israel’s growing political isolation. As Israeli elections loom, PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is forging ahead with plans to build a settlement of 1,200 homes in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

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America’s next chapter is being built now. Bank of America is mobilizing $250 billion over the next 18 months to help finance the infrastructure behind it.

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“This will devastate America and the region!” I howled as I watched the second plane slam into the Twin Towers in New York from my distant Beirut living room.

Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011, a decade after the September 11th attacks, and al-Qaeda’s core leadership was dismantled. But my fears were not misplaced. Bin Laden achieved something more consequential than survival: he provoked the United States into a series of self-inflicted wounds that reshaped the Middle East for the worse — and eroded America’s own standing in it.

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