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Chapter 28 - September 11 and the Next American Century

  1. September 11, 2001
    1. The attacks
      1. Death tolls
      2. Trauma
        1. To New York City
        2. To the country
    2. The perpetrators: Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda
      1. Bin Laden background
      2. Outlook and agenda
      3. Mode of operation
    3. Terrorism
      1. Instances in American past
      2. Late-twentieth-century episodes
        1. Hijacking of Achille Lauro
        2. Downing of Pan American flight 103
        3. 1993 bombing at World Trade Center
      3. Explosions at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
    4. Post–September 11 atmosphere in nation
      1. Wave of fear
      2. Renewed passion for freedom
      3. Fresh attention to old questions
        1. America's global role
        2. Balance between liberty and security
        3. Breadth of American freedom
  2. President George W. Bush before September 11
    1. Domestic policy
      1. Campaign rhetoric of "compassionate conservatism"
      2. Staunch conservative agenda from outset of presidency
        1. Fiscal
          1. Record-size tax cut, geared toward the wealthy
          2. Revival of "supply-side" theory
        2. Environmental
      3. Jim Jeffords defection from Republican party; restoration of Democratic Senate majority
    2. Foreign policy
      1. Insistence on American freedom from international treaties, institutions
        1. Pursuit of national missile defense system; withdrawal from Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty
        2. Repudiation of International Criminal Court treaty
        3. Rejection of Kyoto treaty on global warming
          1. Global warming problem
          2. Growing scientific confirmation of problem
          3. Contribution of United States to global warming
          4. Worldwide support for treaty
      2. Furious response around world
  3. "War on terrorism"
    1. Public mood following September 11
      1. Outpouring of patriotism, collective sympathy and resolve
      2. Renewal of trust in government
      3. Surge in popularity of Bush
    2. Unveiling of Bush Doctrine: September 20 address to Congress
      1. Freedom as rallying cry
      2. "War on terrorism"
        1. Vagueness of enemy or scenario for victory
        2. Absence of line between terrorists and governments harboring them
        3. Absence of middle ground
    3. War in Afghanistan
      1. Lead-up: refusal of Taliban government to surrender bin Laden to United States
      2. American airstrikes, Northern Alliance ground combat
      3. Fall of Taliban government
      4. Fragility of new government
      5. Escape of bin Laden and supporters
      6. Characterization by Bush as only start of war on terrorism
      7. Longer-term outcomes
        1. Gradual reemergence of Taliban presence
        2. Ongoing U.S. troop presence
    4. Expansion of U.S. military presence around world
    5. Dramatic departures in American foreign policy
      1. Bush's identification of "axis of evil" (Iraq, Iran, North Korea)
      2. National Security Strategy document
        1. Definition of freedom
        2. Pledge to fight terrorists and tyrants around world
        3. Insistence on global military dominance
      3. Adoption of "preemptive" war doctrine
    6. World reaction: from post–September 11 sympathy to mounting alarm
      1. Breadth of criticism
      2. Themes of criticism
    7. Indicators of American imperial aspirations
      1. Colossal military expenditures
      2. Rehabilitation of "empire" in public discourse
  4. Iraq War
    1. Lead-up to war
      1. Pre-Bush administration
        1. Survival of Saddam Hussein regime following Gulf War of 1991
        2. Ongoing tensions with United Nations and United States in 1990s
      2. Bush administration's push toward war
        1. Pre–September 11
          1. Early advocates of "regime change"
          2. Military strategizing for ouster of Hussein
          3. Visions of warm reception from "liberated" Iraqis
        2. Post–September 11
          1. Adoption and announcement of "regime change" policy
          2. Arguments made in defense of "regime change" policy
          3. Credulity of American media
          4. Promotion, then dismissal, of intensified UN inspections for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
          5. Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation of "evidence" at UN
          6. Announcement of intention to go to war, regardless of UN position
      3. Mounting opposition to a "preemptive" war
        1. Sources
          1. Antiwar movements in United States and beyond
          2. Foreign policy "realists"
          3. Nations around world
        2. Themes
        3. UN refusal to approve
    2. The war
      1. Initial sense of triumph
        1. Rapid fall of Hussein regime
        2. American occupation
        3. Capture of Hussein
        4. Bush: "Mission Accomplished"
      2. Growing signs of crisis
        1. Looting and chaos
        2. Gathering insurgency against occupation
        3. Wave of sectarian violence
        4. Elusiveness of viable government
        5. Emergence of Iraq as haven for terrorists
      3. Longer-term crisis
        1. Descent into civil war
        2. Death tolls
          1. American
          2. Iraqi
        3. Financial cost to United States
      4. Comparisons with Vietnam
    3. Significance of war for American foreign policy
      1. Extraordinary use of unilateral force outside Western Hemisphere
      2. Unprecedented occupation of Middle East nation
    4. Reaction to the war
      1. In America
        1. Initial popularity
        2. Growing skepticism
        3. Expanding opposition
      2. Around world
        1. Broad outrage
        2. Straining of UN, Western alliance
  5. Constraining liberty in the name of security
    1. At home
      1. Government measures
        1. USA PATRIOT Act
          1. Conferring of vast new powers on law enforcement agencies
          2. New crime category of "domestic terrorism"
        2. Mass roundups, indefinite detention of Middle Eastern foreigners
        3. Detention of suspected terrorists abroad; Guantanamo
        4. Establishment of Department of Homeland Security
        5. Authorization of secret military tribunals for noncitizens
        6. Authorization of indefinite detention of U.S. citizens deemed "enemy combatants"
        7. Warnings not to criticize administration policies
        8. Rescinding of 1970s-era restraints on police and surveillance activities
      2. Presidential disregard for legal and constitutional constraints
      3. Public reaction
        1. Acceptance of some contraction of liberties
        2. Concern over historical fragility of American rights
          1. Civil liberties
          2. Equality before the law
    2. Abroad
      1. Bush administration impatience with Geneva Convention, International Convention Against Torture
      2. The torture controversy
        1. Over legitimacy of torture
        2. Over definition of torture
      3. Government measures
        1. Denial to "unlawful combatants" of Geneva protections
        2. Establishment of CIA jails in foreign countries
        3. "Rendition"
      4. Revelations of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo
      5. Congressional ban on torture
        1. Enactment of
        2. Bush's grudging acceptance of
  6. Republican gains in 2002 elections
  7. The economy under Bush
    1. Economic trends
      1. Resumption of growth
      2. Continued declines in jobs, wages, benefits
        1. Magnitude and location of
        2. Social distribution of
      3. Widening of economic inequality
        1. Degree
        2. Causes
      4. Explosion of budget deficits
        1. Magnitude
          1. Federal level
          2. State level
        2. Causes
          1. Faltering economy
          2. Increased military spending
          3. 2001 tax cuts
        3. Impact: drastic cuts in social programs
        4. Bush response
          1. Support for low interest rates
          2. Further tax cuts
  8. Election of 2004
    1. Candidacy of John Kerry
      1. Expectations for
      2. Limitations of
    2. Reelection campaign of George W. Bush
    3. Bush's narrow victory
    4. Causes and significance of outcome
  9. Bush's second term
    1. Inaugural vow to "end tyranny in the world"
    2. Steady erosion of Bush's standing
      1. Falling support for Iraq war
      2. Republican corruption scandals
        1. In White House
        2. In Congress
    3. Failure of Social Security "reform" initiative
  10. Hurricane Katrina
    1. Arrival
      1. Destruction of levees
      2. Flooding of New Orleans
    2. Inept response by government
      1. Local level
      2. Federal level
        1. Federal Emergency Management Agency
        2. President Bush
    3. New Orleans disaster
      1. Mass abandonment of blacks, poor
      2. Death toll
      3. Physical damage
      4. Displacement
    4. Public response to disaster
      1. Relief efforts
        1. Private
        2. Other states
      2. Shame over marginalization of blacks, poor
    5. Impact on oil prices
  11. Immigration debate
    1. Background
      1. Recent swelling of Hispanic immigration
      2. Spread of new immigrants throughout American heartland
      3. Blend of legal and undocumented immigrants
    2. Response to immigration
      1. History of public debate and government policy
      2. 2006 House of Representatives bill to suppress illegal immigration
    3. 2006 immigrant rights movement
      1. Mass demonstrations across country
      2. Grievances and demands
      3. Popular reaction
    4. Policy stalemate
  12. Supreme Court brakes on conservative agenda
    1. Upholding of affirmative action
    2. Overturning of decision making homosexual acts a crime
    3. Reassertion of legal rights for prisoners in American custody
      1. Key cases
        1. Rasul v. Bush
        2. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
        3. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
      2. Significance
        1. Rebuff of presidential defiance of legal and constitutional constraints
        2. Reaffirmation of rule of law, separation of powers
  13. America in the early twenty-first century
    1. Instabilities around the world
    2. Ongoing debate over meanings of American freedom

 

Subject: 
US History
Subject X2: 
US History

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