Voices of Mexico no. 61

Our Voice

A year after the September 11 terrorist attacks, a reflection on their different implications and the state of the world as a result of those tragic events is obligatory. As we have already said in previous editorials, in a single stroke, the attacks caused the highest number of civilian casualties in the recent history of international terrorism. This fact alone gives us the idea that the ultimate objective of world terrorism (now presumably headed up by Al Qaeda) is to escalate the offensive and directly attack the crucial points of its declared Western enemies, among whom the United States is the central one.While this ill-fated act of terrorism does have precedents in colonial memory and the disorder inherited from the end of the Cold War, it is also true that it has significantly damaged the precarious post-Cold War world order.

In addition to pointing out that international, national, transborder, land and aviation security as well as other matters in which the most important actor (and victim) is international civil society have been the most acutely affected by the terrorist attacks, five other fronts have felt the impact: 1) the nature and integrity of the democratic political regimen, both worldwide and locally have been damaged; 2) the urgently needed economic arrangement that would allow an alternative distribution of wealth to compete with the unfortunate saga of globalization has been delayed even more; 3) significant indications about the psychological and emotional impact among parts of civil society —mainly Americans— who have been exposed to unprecedented risks and instability because of the role both the state and non-state actors are now playing have begun to come to light; 4) international consensuses have seriously deteriorated, mainly among the European Union allies, from the very moment the decision was made to attack Afghanistan; and, last, but not least, 5) it has become clear thatWashington has re-initiated a “no policy” period vis-à-vis LatinAmerica, which has already had significant implications in the economic and social life of the hemisphere.