9/11 attack: The rift that defines the east and the west

Abstract

The atrocity of 11 September 2001 sent ripples across the international arena, if for no other reason than that it was the first direct attack on US soil after the infamous Pearl Harbor debacle ; an event that steered multiple divergences, polarization of ideas, changed narratives and divided beyond distance. However, it was not just the collapse of the Twin Towers and the partial destruction of the Pentagon that made the attack globally monumental. It was what followed post 9/11 – primarily in terms of the US’s counter response to the attack and secondary in terms of the attack's impression upon the larger eastern and western ideological realms. “U.S. Under Attack” was inked as headlines after three commercial airliners were used as bombs to destroy the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan followed by twin towers as well as part of the Pentagon which serves as the headquarters of defence. Another hijacked U.S. airliner Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, supposedly intending to crash into the White House in Washington, DC.