15 years ago, and yet it could have been just yesterday. For the residents of New York, 9/11 changed their skyline forever. For those in Washington DC, it damaged America's self-confidence as an invincible global power. For those of us in the rest of the world, the impact of 9/11 is felt every day in big and small ways.
Think about it, if you will - how do you react when a terror strike takes place somewhere far away from you? Do you stop and think about surveillance? How vulnerable do you feel to violence and how much does it affect your day to day choices?
US is observing the 15th anniversary of the deadliest attack on its soil since Pearl Harbor
Helped along by advances in technology, telecommunication and the growth of internet, governments have access to pretty much everything - your phone calls, emails and text messages, your purchasing behaviour, your reading choices and your interests.
As the intelligence state has boomed across the world and billions of dollars are spent every year on it, the need for some oversight against misuse or abuse has begun to become as crucial as the need to ensure security and law and order. A tough challenge for most governments.
Travel - Only Somewhat Friendly NowNo goodbyes inside a terminal, long security queues, full body scans, taking off shoes and coats, removing computers from bags and no liquids or sprays; all this if you're lucky and not pulled aside for a secondary screening at airports around the world. This drill is now par for course for all of us. In the wake of the terrorist attacks, airport security around the world underwent a series of major overhauls.
Air travel is much safer than it was, but add a few extra hours to your travel time. The aspect of maximum concern - racial and ethnic profiling of passengers based on religion, colour and nationality that very often leads to an infringement of civil liberties that's led to several cases in the courts, and many questions for governments struggling to ensure their countries and people stay safe.
The Global War on Terror Continues"Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."destiny@911
With these words, US President George W Bush plunged America and the world into a global war on terror. America faced its worst attack on the homeland since Pearl Harbour during World War II. Less than a month after 9/11, US troops invaded Afghanistan and began to target Al Qaeda. Two years later US troops invaded Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein. Together, both decisions have had lasting consequences on the entire world.
Using both ground forces and air power, the war on terror has been fought every single day for the last 15 years, but its two major ground interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have proven far more costly than expected - both in terms of resources and human life as American soldiers came under attack, were injured or killed over the years, leading to a demand on George Bush's successor, Barack Obama to promise he would bring the troops home. From Iraq in 2011 and from Afghanistan in 2014.
But the results of the war on terror have been far from perfect. Victories like the Taliban's exit from power, Osama bin Laden's killing, Saddam's execution and Muammar Gaddafi's killing on the streets of Tripoli to name a few, have not meant a final end to the long war. The Taliban have not only regrouped but spawned other equally dangerous actors - the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network for example.
Terror strikes in Afghanistan continue with impunity and target international agencies and workers, embassies and universities. Elsewhere, the Al Qaeda may have been weakened only to see the ISIS rise in Iraq and Syria.
Not a day goes by without a terror strike in the middle east. Entire cities in both countries have been bombed into oblivion, innocent people massacred in the name of either the state or of jihad. And whether or not they send troops or conduct air strikes, with attacks in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Istanbul, Nice, mentally and emotionally America and Europe are in a permanent state of war.
Today, as the influx of refugees from the Middle East, especially Syria challenge immigration and welfare policies of several European governments, the attacks have deepened social divides in the West. Right wing, ultra nationalist, religion-based political parties attack their liberal counterparts for weakness accusing them of letting in the terrorists, and basic values like standing up for human rights, tolerance of different faiths and cultures have come into direct conflict with the war on terror.
9/11 has reshaped the world in countless ways, both overt and insidious, and 15 years on, as the wars drag on without an end in sight keeping these ideological conflicts at bay is as important as winning the global war on terror.
(Maya Mirchandani is Senior Editor, Foreign Affairs - NDTV)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.