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KU Law remembers 9/11

On the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., a panel discussion examined the topic “9/11, the United States and the World—What Path Forward?” The forum, loosely modeled after the “This I Believe” series of essays on National Public Radio, used the anniversary as an opportunity to discuss the future of international relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The event was sponsored by the KU Chapter of Phi Beta Delta, an honor society for international scholarship and education, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower International Law Society, a KU Law student organization. John Head, professor of law, Phi Beta Delta president and ILS sponsor, and Beau Jackson, second-year law student and ILS president, moderated the panel.

"The overall aim of the event was to build on the great programs that Professor David Gottlieb has organized in the past around the anniversary of 9/11, but to take a more future-oriented perspective,” Head said. “I think we met that aim, mainly because we had such engaging speakers coming from many parts of the university and reflecting a broad variety of views."

Speakers were Melissa Birch, director of the Center for International Business Education and Research; Thomas Heilke, professor of political science and interim associate vice provost for International Programs; Beverly Mack, professor of African and African American studies; Jomana Qaddour, Syrian-American second-year law student; David Gottlieb, professor of law; Lawrence Indyk, second-year law student and Iraq War veteran; David Lambertson, former ambassador to Thailand and U.S. representative in North Korea; and Bill Tsutsui, executive director of the Confucius Institute. Each speaker briefly presented his or her perspective on the U.S. relationship with the world moving forward. Their thoughts generated many questions from the audience.

Birch said she wonders if the U.S. can regain the ground it has lost by squandering the goodwill generated toward us around the world by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. She also stated her concerns about immigration and visa restrictions and the impact of these policies on U.S. business interests.
Heilke asked what it means to be a citizen of the last remaining superpower after 9/11. He posed many questions related to the status of the U.S. as a superpower: What does it mean to be the last remaining superpower? What does it mean for a superpower to be at war against an ideology, rather than another nation? Can a superpower exist under republican constraints? Can a republic continue to exist in a superpower?

Mack said education about Muslims and Muslim communities should be part of our nationwide agenda as we move forward from Sept. 11, 2001.
“Both large cities and small towns have active Muslim groups,” she said. “Perpetuating the image of Muslims as a ‘suspect other’ is a strategy that is politically useful to some. Yet, ignorance at all levels of education is how this persists. It is difference, not familiarity, that breads contempt.”

Qaddour shared her perspective as a Muslim American woman. She was critical of movements to create freedom that do not take the true needs of people into account. She said the women of the Middle East are looking for fundamental liberation, not just superficial change.

“Women in developing countries don’t need superficial feminist movements, such as those that liberate them from the burqa; they desire education, property rights, voting rights,” Qaddour said.
Gottlieb said the U.S. must respect the rule of law not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because doing so is essential to ensuring worldwide cooperation in fighting terrorism.

“We’re very used to getting our way in the world,” he said. “September 11 won’t be the last shot we’ll receive from the world. Partnership with the world is essential, not optional, if we’re going to be successful in the world. Terrorism is an international issue. We need the cooperation of other countries.”

Indyk shared his perspective as a former solider in Iraq. He said those who claim terrorism is motivated by issues like poverty or lack of education are mistaken. Going forward, he suggested we must develop a more solid idea of what inspires terrorists.

“The real motivation, the real driving force, is a fanatical ideology of a world force,” he said. “They’ve made up their minds to commit any act of violence helpful to their cause. There is nothing we can do but struggle against it until it falls under the spade of its disgusting brutality.”

Lambertson said it is essential for the U.S. to raise taxes to pay for our wars and to reassert itself as a major player on worldwide issues, such as global warming.

Tsutsui used the increased popularity of Japanese culture in the U.S. to illustrate how quickly we identify Sept. 11, 2001, as the root of nearly everything that has happened since. He said some scholars have asserted Japanese pop culture is a response to their defeat in World War II and that its popularity in the U.S. is a result of us sharing those wounds and shame.

“This illustrates the totalizing, all-consuming nature today of 9/11 and its narratives of terrorism, personal safety and the war in the Middle East,” he said. “How easily we can conceive of 9/11 as the simple answer to a question of a complex nature. The challenge for the future is to gain real perspective on 9/11 apart from the hysteria of politicians.”

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