The staff and directors of Nautilus Institute were devastated by the attacks
in New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001. Like so many others,
we have family, friends and colleagues who live and work in these cities.
We extend our condolences to the victims and their surviving families and
pray for the rapid recovery of those injured and traumatized in the attacks.
Many Americans are asking who instigated and conducted these attacks, and
why. Many answers will be forthcoming to these questions over the coming
days.
We believe that these events are global in both origin and impact. People
and nations everywhere on earth will be affected by the attacks and their
aftermath.
Therefore, it is crucial that Americans join with others around the world
to understand why these attacks happened and what they mean. In this
spirit, we are conducting a Special Forum on the September 11 Attacks.
We offer the following questions to inspire debate and dialogue about how
to mobilize an effective, collective response in ways that point towards
closer global cooperation and increase prospects for global peace and
personal security. We also welcome other comments not covered by these
questions, especially of any important areas that are not being discussed
widely in other fora.
We invite your response. Please note that the Nautilus Institute retains
the right to choose among submissions and to edit submissions for length,
grammar or style, and content. Responses will be considered for
distribution only if they include the author's full name and affiliation,
if any. Online versions of the articles will be available at:
http://www.nautilus.org/fora/Special-Policy-Forum/index.html
Staff of Nautilus Institute
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What may have been the role of previous U.S. foreign policy decisions
in precipitating this event, and what new policies should be implemented to
prevent a repeat?
2. How will this event affect U.S. relations both with its allies and with
other countries? What, if any, are the implications for regions beyond the
Middle East, such as North America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast
Asia, and the former Soviet Union?
3. What does this attack say about the effectiveness of traditional
military measures in deterring and defeating non-state actors? Are the
most appropriate responses by the U.S. and other countries unilateral,
international, military, diplomatic, or a combination, and what role does
international law play?
4. Considering that the attack was carried out without the use of weapons
of mass destruction, do threat analyses that focus on preventing the
proliferation and use of WMD need to be re-examined? Similarly, what does
the low-tech nature of the attacks say about the nature of asymmetric
warfare and attempts
to counter it?
5. How will energy security in regions such as North America and Northeast
Asia be affected by a crisis in the Middle East, and what combination of
responses--military, political, economic, technological--might countries
implement to secure their energy resources?
6. How will the attack impact international diplomacy on issues such as
international trade and investment; regional integration, and climate change?
7. How will this attack and its aftermath affect the domestic and global
movements for civil liberties, corporate social responsibility and a just
and environmentally sustainable form of globalization?
8. How do we understand the role of ethnicity, race, religion, and culture
in the both the precipitation of and reaction to these events?
9. In the case of a decline in investor confidence and financial
stability, what are the implications for the global economy, particularly
short and long-term capital flows to developing economies?
10. How will this attack affect transparency, regulation, and monitoring
of the international financial services industry and its role and
responsibilities in public policy?
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