I had lunch with a boss of mine awhile back. She asked me what I wanted to study in graduate school. At the time I was considering a degree specifically focusing on counterterrorism. The advice she gave me was semi-prophetical. She said terrorism is trendy now, but will you still be interested when it is no longer a hot topic? She added that as a Soviet studies student in 1989, she knew how it felt.
I was reminded of this conversation as I read this week's 9/11 anniversary where-are-we-now pieces. Surprisingly there was more consensus than I would expect about how America is doing ten years later. Essentially, we have a hold on terrorism. Though as one author pointed out, eradicating terrorism would be like eradicating disease. It will continue to be a threat and we should be especially aware of home grown terrorism and cyber terrorism. Okay, that's logical. Al Qaeda is close to being sacrificed on the alter of history, the Arab Spring helped to etch its tombstone no doubt.
From where I am sitting (which is in a trendier than usual Starbucks that serves beer...) there is an echo tragedy. 9/11 was unfathomable, senseless and understandably a call to arms. However, ten years later I would like to look back and be proud of our reaction, and see how our investments, both financial and ideological helped create a stronger, more sustainable world. Sadly this is not the case. Instead we spent billions on an optional war (maybe the worst phrase in the English language) and saw the end of too many lives. Okay you say, mistakes were made but the clarity of hindsight is nothing compared to murky present. Yes, but what we lost and continue to lose in opportunity cost is more of a threat than we care to admit.
On an economic level, Bid Laden may have been successful. An Al Jazeera report tells us that Bid Laden spent up to $500,000 on the attack. We in turn spent $5 trillion. This morning, along with the rest of Portland's farmer's market-attending public, I wrestled with my parking slip balancing it on my curbside window just so because apparently the city can no longer afford adhesive. Awesome. My point is, if he wanted us to feel the squeeze, we're feeling it. The sad part though is that the economic crisis we find ourselves in was not an inherent result of the terror attack, it was a consequence of our own actions.
Here I go again with what has been a theme of mine this year. Narrative is everything. This is true for two reasons; first, as I am learning people are emotional creatures. Values are more motivating than we know, and people still need to be compelled on a very basic level in order to agree with policy. America's path must fit into a larger narrative that is agreeable to its citizens. Second, framing a narrative implies an author that is in control of both the present and the future. America is slipping like an endangered iceberg into a rising sea, some claim. China is coming, coming! Maybe, we'll see. Still it remains our responsibility to shape our own destiny.
Which brings me to leadership. Yes citizens should be involved, yes we can demonstrate and write letters and petitions, but what will make the quickest impact is solid leadership. Look to your right and you see a group ready to dismantle the family car and sell it for parts, thrusting us into a Darwinian existence in which it really is the survival of the fittest. To your left you see a mass of knowledge but little know-how. Democrats know that "winning the future" requires an investment in humanity, namely education, health care and the environment but cannot for the life of them communicate this effectively. Internationally speaking, we need to hold the bar for human rights at the same height for every country, be it Syria, China or Israel. But more than anything we need a leader who is capable of warding off the base instinct to plunge the country into defense mode and instead chart a course of progress.
Ten years later, I still have great faith in this country. Faith that we can do better.
I was reminded of this conversation as I read this week's 9/11 anniversary where-are-we-now pieces. Surprisingly there was more consensus than I would expect about how America is doing ten years later. Essentially, we have a hold on terrorism. Though as one author pointed out, eradicating terrorism would be like eradicating disease. It will continue to be a threat and we should be especially aware of home grown terrorism and cyber terrorism. Okay, that's logical. Al Qaeda is close to being sacrificed on the alter of history, the Arab Spring helped to etch its tombstone no doubt.
From where I am sitting (which is in a trendier than usual Starbucks that serves beer...) there is an echo tragedy. 9/11 was unfathomable, senseless and understandably a call to arms. However, ten years later I would like to look back and be proud of our reaction, and see how our investments, both financial and ideological helped create a stronger, more sustainable world. Sadly this is not the case. Instead we spent billions on an optional war (maybe the worst phrase in the English language) and saw the end of too many lives. Okay you say, mistakes were made but the clarity of hindsight is nothing compared to murky present. Yes, but what we lost and continue to lose in opportunity cost is more of a threat than we care to admit.
On an economic level, Bid Laden may have been successful. An Al Jazeera report tells us that Bid Laden spent up to $500,000 on the attack. We in turn spent $5 trillion. This morning, along with the rest of Portland's farmer's market-attending public, I wrestled with my parking slip balancing it on my curbside window just so because apparently the city can no longer afford adhesive. Awesome. My point is, if he wanted us to feel the squeeze, we're feeling it. The sad part though is that the economic crisis we find ourselves in was not an inherent result of the terror attack, it was a consequence of our own actions.
Here I go again with what has been a theme of mine this year. Narrative is everything. This is true for two reasons; first, as I am learning people are emotional creatures. Values are more motivating than we know, and people still need to be compelled on a very basic level in order to agree with policy. America's path must fit into a larger narrative that is agreeable to its citizens. Second, framing a narrative implies an author that is in control of both the present and the future. America is slipping like an endangered iceberg into a rising sea, some claim. China is coming, coming! Maybe, we'll see. Still it remains our responsibility to shape our own destiny.
Which brings me to leadership. Yes citizens should be involved, yes we can demonstrate and write letters and petitions, but what will make the quickest impact is solid leadership. Look to your right and you see a group ready to dismantle the family car and sell it for parts, thrusting us into a Darwinian existence in which it really is the survival of the fittest. To your left you see a mass of knowledge but little know-how. Democrats know that "winning the future" requires an investment in humanity, namely education, health care and the environment but cannot for the life of them communicate this effectively. Internationally speaking, we need to hold the bar for human rights at the same height for every country, be it Syria, China or Israel. But more than anything we need a leader who is capable of warding off the base instinct to plunge the country into defense mode and instead chart a course of progress.
Ten years later, I still have great faith in this country. Faith that we can do better.
