Has the world learnt anything 20 years after 9/11?

On September 11, 2001, viewers around the world had their eyes glued to their television screens as the attacks masterminded by Osama bin Laden unfolded in New York. At the end, 2,977 people lay dead, mostly in the rubble of the world’s most iconic building, the World Trade Centre.

As the dust was settling, US President George W. Bush appeared in Congress to announce that America would never forget. Other leaders and many Americans followed suit. But, 20 years on, with 40,000 other terrorist attacks in over 100 nations killing hundreds of thousands of people, has the world really changed?

In the weeks that followed the 9/11 attacks, the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and toppled the regimes in those countries. In a daring clandestine operation in 2011, the US killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, thus exacting a measure of revenge on their archenemy. This was followed by the ignominious exit from both Afghanistan and Iraq, before the US saw the crumbling of the house of cards that was their work in Afghanistan, leading to the triumphant return to power of the Taliban. That sums it up, doesn’t it?

America’s humiliation in Afghanistan aside, are there any lessons which nations have learnt? And is jihadism close to be defeated?

The answer is an emphatic no. While the space for jihadist groups to operate freely at the global level has narrowed, jihadism thrives in many failed states through dispersed groups around the world. Worse still, Africa is now the new centre of gravity of jihadist operations in the world – an ominous sign for the continent’s future.

Here are three important lessons about jihadism which nations have refused to learn:

Jihadism is not synonymous with terrorism

The term “war on terror” has often attracted critics. They argue that “terrorism” is usually used by those with power to describe what those without power do. Hence, those called terrorists by one man may as well be freedom fighters to another. Thus, terrorism is “an empty word that means everything and nothing”. By insisting on using this misnomer, nations have failed to define who or what the enemy is, and why they are engaging that enemy.

On the contrary, jihadism is a much clearer terminology which is often mentioned in hushed tones due to its religious undertones. It is a totalitarian movement which makes it clear why it needs to be defeated intellectually and militarily.

It is the biggest challenge to human freedom today

Millions and millions of people are under the yoke of this philosophy. People may frown upon what ISIS or Al Shabaab do, but a simple act such as changing your religion could get you killed in Yemen, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Brunei, Afghanistan, UAE, Mauritania, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia.

Things like this should have made the world wake up to the reality that this is not an issue that is determined by US foreign policy. To effectively address this issue, one needs to destroy the foundation of totalitarian values and aspirations which infuse it with energy.

Violence is just one manifestation of jihadism

In 2014, a BBC investigation, Jihadism: Tracking a Month of Deadly Attacks, found that in November 2014, jihadists carried out 664 attacks in 14 nations that killed over 5,000 people. This is what has happened in nation after nation, month after month, all over the world.

The scale of the problem is often underestimated not only because many jihadist atrocities don’t make international headlines, but also because the concept itself is narrowly defined to constitute only acts of violence. As a result, the “war on terror” is considered an overreaction and vigilance against potential jihadists, and is seen as religious profiling. However, without vigilance, jihadism survives as a hydra-headed monster, always producing another hideous manifestation when one least expects it.

Jihadism is defined not by violence but by its world outlook. When you have millions of people who believe that death is the right response for drawing a religious figure, for apostasy, or for blasphemy, why should it surprise anyone that the world is never short of “lone wolves” who choose to dispense their brand of justice in the name of their faith?

America’s failure in Afghanistan highlights nations’ failure to understand culture. This is a common mistake. Many people believe that just because they don’t care much for religion then it doesn’t matter. But faith, as the Catholic theologian Hans Kung observes, is a great motivation for behaviour. You can never understand anyone unless you understand what they hold dear.

Similarly, the world cannot win the “war on terror” while turning a blind eye to the totalitarian values that inspire the movement. Yes, it is easier to live in a fantasy world than choose to deal with the implications of this reality. However, no one should be surprised when people continue to die. At least 1,500 were killed in August 2021 alone.

Appreciating what jihadism is leads to devising the right strategies to combat it. That includes challenging and exposing its totalitarian values intellectually. The movement is dangerous because it rejects tolerance for any other value or practice apart from their own – and they will gladly kill to enforce that.

That’s in total contradiction to everything the modern world holds dear.