Maja Veselinovic

ENC-1102 MWF 3:30-4:20

Leslie Wolcott
Storm Watchers
Literature Review
The professional organization that I, personally, take interest in is the discourse
community of people working in international relations. This field encompasses a large group of
people. From United Nations representatives to members of the CIA, this field is very broad and
is centralized around foreign affairs. I chose this because of my major in international and global
studies and I am interested in working for the United Nations or another organization that deals
with global affairs. To grasp a better understanding of the field, I will be focusing on the topic of
how political opinions, outlooks, and policies have changed after the terrorist attacks on
September 11th, 2001. This topic has become very popular amongst leaders invested in global
politics in recent years as our security has been tested in multiple events post-September 11.
These leaders, social scientists, and politicians would be interested in this research that I have put
together. I have compiled various articles from databases that deal with this topic to further
understand the discussion. During my process of researching this topic, I will limit my
documents to anything after 2001. Documents prior to 2001 will not aid me as they will not have
any ideas on the attacks. I will allow articles focused on the public opinion of various groups
around the world, as well as the changes in ideology and policy of governments and groups. This
will allow me to see the bigger picture and not have a pure American opinion-based outcome.
September 11th, 2001 changed many lives around the world. It lead to different policies

regarding foreign affairs, public opinion on all things related to the war on terrorism, and so on.
Global mindsets were altered to make room for the new fear and unrest. Even to this day the
terrorist attacks of that September morning are being analyzed. Social scientists are constantly
analyzing this date and the changes it caused. The attacks proved to be a detrimental turning
point in our history and brought about much change. It became a solemn day in our history
which we will look back on forever.
Current literature on topics related to the September 11th attacks show that the attacks
brought upon changes in foreign policy in the United States and around the world
(Crawford,2004; Epifanio,2011; Halabi,2006; Rehman, 2008). The United States foreign policy
after this date, specifically, combines the moral certainty and global mission of the post-Cold
War era with a new sense of fear and urgency (Crawford, 2004). In reaction to this new feeling
of urgency, the U.S began to instill policies that that would be more far-reaching than just the
Arab world (Halabi, 2006). They used the global sympathy to change international law and begin
to take down dictators and install U.S-like regimes (Rehman, 2008). Not only did the United
States suffer from the aftermath of the attacks, but other countries as well. Based on their
location, cultures, and ideologies, they all handled it differently. Countries, such as the United
States and the United Kingdom, were more lenient on cutting some civil rights while countries,
such as Canada and Switzerland, were tried to avoid the reduction of civil rights (Epifanio,
2011).
Not only did the attacks affect politics, but they also affected in political opinion and how
we view certain ethnicities, services, etc. (Cunningham,2004; Maney, 2009). For example, the
airline industry was highly affected by the attacks. The results of this research show that
although the number of trips declined drastically after the attacks, the satisfaction of passenger

did not change (Cunningham, 2004). The United States new foreign policy that aimed to create
more Democratic countries around the world in order to avoid more incidences of 9/11 created
changes in public opinion. Peace movement organizations, or PMOs for short, became very
doubtful of Bushs goals post-9/11. They questioned the existence of weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq and challenged the administration on its actions (Maney, 2009). On the other
hand, majorities of all students supported both war efforts, though United States Military
Academy at West Point and ROTC cadets are somewhat more supportive of both wars compared
to civilian students(Rohall, 2006).
The attacks created more faith in the government rather than resentment. (Chanely, 2002;
Gross,2009) Public opinion of people living in the United States changed drastically. After
September 11th, there was a large increase in the trust in the national government. Citizens had
very positive views on how the government would provide safety and protection for them. The
results show that the public began looking at international problems more than domestic ones
(Chanely,2002). The United States citizens, overall, did not blame the government for the attacks
and felt safe in its protection from any attacks in the future. Data from a panel study reveals that
there is a positive relationship amongst hope, pride, and confidence. Americans experience both
pride and hope when faced with threats of terrorism and anxiety is not the only feeling being
experienced. With this pride and hope, they felt confident with the government in its ability to
protect its people (Gross, 2009).
Because of the foreign policy changes made under the Bush administration, post 9/11,
global perceptions of the United States changed (Goldsmith, 2009; Graber, 2009; Shlapentokh,
2004). Leaders of the United States initially created large and positive effects by using its policy.
However once the U.S initiated the Iraq wars, the policies weakened the effect and foreign media

began to report negatively against the U.S (Goldsmith, 2009). While some of the countries
changed their perceptions to be more sympathetic others viewed America in a negative light. For
example, the image of the United States in the Middle East has drastically fallen post-9/11. Even
though the United States diplomats stationed in the Middle East give the diplomatic policies of
the United States favorable ratings, the image continues to decline (Graber, 2009). Also, it was
found that countries that identified with the American image of an enemy were more favorable to
the United States and supportive. Germany and Lithuania were more supportive of the U.S while
the rest of the countries were not as supportive. Russia and Egypt were the clearest in their
negative opinions of the United States (Shlapentokh, 2004).
All in all, we see that the attacks were an important event in our history and brought upon
many changes around the world. The way the U.S handled the attacks provoked changes in
public opinion around the world. The literature being discussed in this review mainly focuses on
how the foreign policy has impacted most of the world. However it fails to discuss how the
foreign policies has affected the public opinion of those in Latin America and South America.
Large populations that have also been affected by the policy changes reside there yet no one has
analyzed their opinion.