WWS panel considers political, intellectual legacies of Sept. 11

It was not a memorial. It was not a commemoration or a remembrance per se. Instead, it was something that seemed a better fit for the University's heavily academic climate — an intellectual discussion.

The Wilson School held a panel yesterday afternoon titled "Legacies of Sept. 11: Priorities and Challenges," which took a more scholarly approach to the anniversary and the year before, how it has changed U.S. society and what can be learned from it.

"We're here for intellectual study, but the tragedy is a deeply personal one," Wilson School dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 said.

The panel, moderated by Slaughter, included five faculty members — Aaron Friedberg, Jeffrey Herbst '83, Frederick Hitz '61, Alan Krueger and Kathleen McNamara.

Before a packed Dodds Auditorium, Slaughter introduced the five professors of politics, international affairs and economics.

The panelists each spoke for 10 minutes before a brief question-and-answer session.

Herbst said he was surprised the U.S. government resorted to war so quickly. But more than a surprise, he said, the action was an academic failure.

"The fault is just as much the politics professor as the person behind the X-ray machine at the airport," Herbst said.

Hitz examined the legal issues involved with granting the president the power he has accessed.

He addressed the Patriot Act and the Foreign Internationals Surveillance Act and declared that the court system was often more than willing to accommodate the president and help his campaign progress.

The attacks also had serious political ramifications, other professors said.

McNamara addressed the effect of Sept. 11 on trans-Atlantic sentiment and diplomacy.

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She focused on the severity of the perceived rift between the U.S. and Europe on views of terrorism, a rift she said lies more in perception than in reality.

Krueger countered the misconception that poverty and lack of education create terrorists, saying more educated Palestinians than uneducated Palestinians favored suicide attacks on Israel.

Friedberg tried to answer the questions "Where do we stand in the war on terrorism?" and "What comes next?"

In response, he raised the chilling claim that Sept. 11 in itself may raise the chances of the future use of nuclear weapons.

"[Terrorists] will feel as though they need to make the impact of killing thousands or tens of thousands of people," Friedberg said. "9/11 may have increased the risk of those using nuclear weapons."