World Marks 25th Anniversary of September 11 Attacks

The world marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Friday, honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed in the strikes on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. In New York, ceremonies at Ground Zero included a moment of silence and the reading of the names of the 2,977 victims, as well as six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. At the Pentagon, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered remarks that defended the necessity of the war in Iran to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons. The anniversary serves as a reflection on how the attacks influenced US foreign policy, domestic politics, and global security. The events led to the war on terror and the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Some analysts suggest the response to the attacks represented a strategic diversion of US power that occurred while China continued to grow. Additionally, the aftermath of the attacks accelerated the securitization of migration and the implementation of biometric identification systems at borders. Outlets with a center left lean frame the anniversary as a reminder of the disproportionate violence and human cost of the subsequent wars, as well as the erosion of international diplomatic tools. Outlets with a center right lean frame the period as a complex debate over whether the attacks initiated a relative decline in undisputed US global supremacy.