9/11: New perspectives; different attitudes

Two years on, is the world a different place?
11 September 2003

Diplomacy
The entente cordiale linking Britain and France survived 11 September but took a battering in the run-up to the war on Iraq and is now in intensive care. But beyond their relationship, the "war on terror" changed the face of international diplomacy as new strategic alliances were forged and old ones withered.
Russia's relations with America, and with the West in general, were among the first to benefit from the post-11 September fallout. Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, enthusiastically backed the US "war on terror" in return for winning international support for his continuing crackdown against Chechen separatist rebels, cast as part of that war.
Other countries, too, seized on the "war on terror" as part of their own domestic anti- terrorism agenda to improve relations with Washington, including Spain (Eta), India (Kashmir), Israel (Hamas) and China (Muslim separatists). The reward for President Bush's new friends: a much-coveted visit to his Texas ranch.
President Musharraf of Pakistan was a big winner. His government was brought in from the cold, and praised by President Bush for co- operating in the hunt for al- Qa'ida after the war that removed Pakistan's Taliban allies in Afghanistan.
The fault lines now running through Europe will take much time to heal, with France and Germany still leading vocal objections to the latest US plans for post-Saddam Iraq.
Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, twisted the knife into "old Europe," as he described the two countries, while the continent tore itself apart over the Iraq war.
Poland, and other EU candidate countries that endorsed an open letter dreamt up by Spain and Britain in support of American policy on Iraq, are not likely to forget President Jacques Chirac's outburst at an EU meeting in February. He told them that they had "missed a great opportunity to shut up" in remarks that widened the yawning gap between the two European juggernauts and the pro-US young democracies of eastern Europe.
Tony Blair's Government, too, has increasingly allied itself with the pro-war supporters, including the right-wing leaders of Spain and Italy. The new alliances in Europe have shifted loyalties that were previously based on party lines.
Anne Penketh

US politics
American politics, similar to most other aspects of national life, has been transformed by the events of 11 September 2001 - but in a way perhaps less evident than meets the eye.
The most obvious political consequence of the attacks was a surge in the popularity of President George Bush. The "amiable dunce" (to borrow Clark Clifford's famous description of Ronald Reagan) became overnight the steely war leader around whom the US united. His approval ratings shot up from about 50 per cent to more than 80 per cent and, remarkably, stayed there for more than a year.
Today, of course, politics' own law of gravity is operating. The messy aftermath of the invasion of Iraq - the soaring human and financial cost of occupation - has combined with the faltering economy to bring the President's popularity down to roughly where it was before 11 September. Although the Democrats are scoring some big hits, the most narrowly and controversially elected President in modern US history still looks odds-on to win a second term next November.
In that sense, American politics in September 2003 is back to normal, with all the rancour and partisanship of any year before an election. But in another sense it has changed, perhaps for good.
Until 11 September 2001, foreign policy and national security were hardly issues. George Bush and Al Gore found little to argue over in the 2000 campaign, and nobody minded that the future President could not name the leaders of several important US allies. Today, national security matters almost as much as the economy as an election issue.
If Mr Bush is defeated next year, the most likely reason will be deterioration in Iraq, and the fear of voters that America is being sucked into a new Vietnam. Democrats, always perceived as weaker on national security than Republicans, must take special care with the issue.
That is why the Massachusetts senator John Kerry reminds America in every speech that he was a war hero in Vietnam - and that is why the possible entry into the Democratic race of retired General Wesley Clark, with a 24-carat military record but no political experience, is being taken seriously by both parties.
The new reality may not, as some predict, guarantee Republican presidents as far as the eye can see. Indeed, it may cause a backlash against the unilateralist approach of the Bush team. But it does ensure that events outside the country's borders will probably be as much a factor in its politics as what is happening inside.
Rupert Cornwell

UK politics
"This changes everything," was Tony Blair's immediate private assessment of theattacks as he aborted a speech to the TUC conference and hurried to London from Brighton by train.
Mr Blair has been proved right - and in more ways than he imagined in the hours after the terrorist attacks. The event not only changed the geopolitical scene, it also transformed his second term in office by ensuring it was dominated by foreign affairs.
The Prime Minister restrained George Bush from taking immediate action against Iraq in the aftermath of 11 September. But the quid pro quo was that Britain would be on board when the Iraq issue was eventually tackled, and Mr Blair kept his bargain.
For Mr Blair, the attacks made it inevitable that the twin evils of terrorism and rogue states would join forces. He said last week: "The link between terrorism and rogue states with weapons of mass destruction is the crucial security threat of the 21st century." He admitted the link was still "not fully accepted by people".
There is a cruel irony here. Although London never joined Washington in claiming a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida, Mr Blair's prophecy came true after the war in Iraq ended and al-Qa'ida terrorists flooded into Iraq.
Mr Blair admits that Iraq led to a "lost year", which has diverted him from his priorities for his second term - improving public services and calling a referendum on the euro.
His energies have certainly been channelled into foreign affairs, first Afghanistan and then Iraq.
In both cases, he showed a boldness he sometimes seemed to lack on domestic issues. But the dominance of foreign affairs does not entirely explain the Government's lack of progress on the domestic front. Turning round health, education and transport was always going to be a long-term task. And Gordon Brown was always likely to delay a euro referendum until after the next general election.
The attacks also had an impact on other parties. Iain Duncan Smith's election as Tory leader two days later was eclipsed. So was his "unique selling point" - his close links to hardline Republicans in the US - when Mr Blair forged a bond with George Bush that grew even stronger over Iraq.
When the history books are written, Mr Blair's initial response on 11 September may prove remarkably prophetic. As far as British politics is concerned, everything did change.
Andrew Grice

Security
Armed police officers and high-visibility street patrols in London are some of the most obvious changes to security in Britain since 11 September. Behind the scenes the security service, MI5, and anti-terrorist police have also been busy investigating and monitoring suspected supporters of al-Qa'ida throughout Britain.
Central London, and Westminster in particular, has been most affected with hundreds of police officers drafted in to provide reassurance and added protection around government buildings and other likely targets.
Boarding flights is now more time consuming because of extra security checks and the policing at airports is much tighter. Airlines are also considering employing sky marshals and fitting anti-missile defence systems.
Police forces and local authorities have had to make sure they have the equipment and procedures to deal with a nuclear, chemical and biological attack. Last weekend London's emergency services were tested in a terrorism exercise in which a chemical attack was staged on the Underground.
In the US, after an initial scramble, airport and airline security settled down with a few important changes. Bullet-proof cockpit doors were installed and are now kept locked during flights. Several thousand air marshals were trained to guard flights. The federal government took over baggage screening duties from much-criticised private companies.
Two years on, things are far from perfect. At many airports, powerful new screening devices for checked luggage are too big to fit comfortably behind the check-in counter, so passengers have to stand in line near the outside doors. Such clusters of people are in themselves regarded as security risks. Money has been scarce for security in other sectors. The US Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham, received just 7 per cent of the budget he requested earlier this year to secure energy facilities around the country.
Jason Bennetto and Andrew Gumbel

Architecture
The loss of the World Trade Centre's twin towers has made no difference to the cult of architectural bigness. In New York, London and Europe, the physical ascent of workaholic man continues to be underwritten by surging market forces, and increasingly sophisticated architectural technology.
Property prices and rent-slab values have decreed a brave new, post-terrorism world sanctified by glass and steel monoliths. In London, for example, the future of Renzo Piano's 1,000ft Glass Shard tower depends on the result of a dogfight between English Heritage and Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, not any clamminess about aircraft strikes or bombs.
Norman Foster took 9/11 as a cue to fast-forward development of new structural and building escape methods, which will reduce the scale of death and injury if terrorists attack buildings. New structural jointing systems can delay total collapse for longer, and improved lift-clustering will ensure some will work regardless of damage elsewhere.
In Europe, top-flight architects remain engrossed in architectural upward mobility. Britain's Will Alsop - famous for the inverted L-form of Peckham Library - has recently completed a bizarrely colour coded tower in Dusseldorf; and in Sweden, the great Spanish master of so-called zoomorphic architecture, Santiago Calatrava, is at work on his 190-metre-high "Turning Torso" in Malmo.
They are being driven ever upward by the force of land values and the desire of key financial centres for spectacular recognition. Just like London which is now falling prey to the risk of architectural terrorism. The next decade may throw up a number of genuinely brilliant skyscrapers, but most will be visual and physical affronts to urban environments.
Jay Merrick

Tourism
Holidaying at home suddenly became an attractive option after 11 September and, two years on, anxiety about flying and visiting exotic places remains high.
In Bali, the tourism industry suffered a double blow. Visitor numbers were down after the attacks in America; then came the massive car bomb last October that killed 202 people, mainly tourists, in the popular resort of Kuta Beach. As the first anniversary of the atrocity approaches, Bali's hotels and bars are still half-empty.
International tourism bodies are putting on a brave face. Francesco Frangialli, secretary general of the World Tourism Organisation, said yesterday that 11 September was only one factor that had affected the industry - the others being the war in Iraq and the Sars outbreak. The industry, he said, had adapted in an "extraordinary" manner. Tourism globally had fallen by just 0.6 per cent in 2001, followed by a 3.1 per cent fall in 2002. "There has not been the kind of collapse that some people too swiftly predicted," he said.
British tourism has been badly affected by the problems. About £3bn has been lost through the reluctance of foreign visitors to venture abroad over the past two years.
In 2002, overseas visitors spent £11.9bn, an improvement on a disastrous 2001 where the industry was hit by foot-and-mouth as well as 11 September, but still below £12.8bn in 2000.
Kathy Marks in Sydney