Oakland, CA— As the world scrutinizes the chaos, enormous costs and massive loss of life from the recent, intelligence and military fiasco of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Independent Institute is marking the twentieth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 by publishing the special Symposium, “The War on Terror at Twenty,” exploring the ways that the government response has changed American life over the past two decades and what we might well expect for the future.

The articles of the Symposium appear in the fall 2021 edition of the quarterly journal, The Independent Review, and are also published on Independent.org and are available for free.

The attacks resulted in the U.S. government’s “War on Terror,” an open-ended transnational military campaign to combat terrorism. In a formal speech to Congress, President George W. Bush made clear that “[o]ur war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”

A broad Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) became law on September 18, 2001. The size and scope of the government expanded with the PATRIOT Act, allowing agencies to engage in unconstitutional surveillance and information gathering, all in the name of fighting terrorism.

“The benefits of the war on terror are unclear at best and counterproductive at worst,” says Christopher Coyne, co-editor of The Independent Review. “It has generated a wide range of seen and unseen costs, which are examined and explored in the Symposium,” he adds.

Contributing authors discuss the failures and the lasting negative consequences of the “War on Terror.” The destruction and collapse of political orders in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya; the displacement of millions of people; and the deaths and injuries numbering in the tens of thousands, are all examined in the Symposium.

The recent withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan will not bring an end to the broader “War on Terror.” As these articles make clear, the perverse costs and consequences both domestically and internationally will also not end with the US exit debacle in Afghanistan.

Click here to read the Symposium articles in The Independent Review.

To interview the authors of the symposium “The War on Terror at Twenty,” contact Robert Ade, [email protected], or 510-635-3690.

The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy is thoroughly researched, peer-reviewed, and based on scholarship of the highest caliber. The Independent Review is the acclaimed interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of political economy and the critical analysis of government policy. Provocative, lucid, and written in an engaging style, The Independent Review covers economics, political science, law, history, philosophy, and sociology, as it boldly challenges the politicization and bureaucratization of our world with in-depth examinations of policy issues by some of the world’s leading scholars and experts.