Voices of Mexico no. 57

Our Voice

fter the close of this edition, we have faced a new stage in the international conflict that began with the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. It all stems from the crisis which began September 11, date of the most serious terrorist attack that any Western country has ever suffered in peace time, an attack that shook the whole world. On the same day that Washington and London began their attacks on his training camps in Afghanistan, Osama bin Ladin, the leader of Al Qaeda and main suspect of being behind the September 11 attacks, said “I swear that the United States will not experience peace until Palestine does and until the Western armies of the infidel leave the Holy Lands.” In this statement, we find both a declaration of principles and even war bordering on fanaticism and a turning point in relations between the West and the Arab world. It is probably also the beginning of a fourth stage in the long process of changes that the international system has gone through since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the end of World War II and the destruction of the Axis and the end of the bipolar era. From now on, September 11 will be recognized as the date that changed the eventful period following the end of the Cold War. The implications of the events we are witnessing will probably escalate enough so that we see a partial repetition of something like the Cold War. Conflicts will once again make their appearance on the international scene. However, the most important thing may be seeing the clash between the private Islamic fundamentalist cells that operate inside countries which they target for revenge, such as the United States, and the response of the states affected by this new threat.