Military Technology 06/2021

cannot, in a finite timescale, cure the inequality of the global north-south divide, resolve the differences in religious philosophies or change human nature to obviate envy, greed and avarice, we have to ignore them. Which has, in the past, meant taking action – almost any action – rapidly, in order to assuage public demand and calm potential unrest. We have learned – at vast expense in blood and treasure and over a 20-year period – that instant, intemperate action has one set of conse­ quences. And we have learned that indecision in pursuing a course of action, once decided upon, is fatal for the planned outcome. There are those who will argue, justifiably, that we should not have needed to learn those lessons – that the issues are self-evident. The more important observation, though, is to ask what do we do next? How do we assure our future? The answer is we build on what we have learned. And we do so in the only way that a multicultural, multipolar and complex society can: incrementally, in collaboration and partnership. Full implementation of so general an imperative will require monumen- tal changes in attitudes and in societal relationships. So, perhaps, that should await the emergence of homo superior. But we can make inroads that will make a difference. We can, in fact, ‘imagine the unimaginable.’ We can discipline and ade- quately resource our human intelligence apparatus to identify, define and understand the next generation of threat. We can inject and enhance a sense of communal, collective responsibility among those tasked with our security – and we can illuminate, illustrate and educate the public at large in the need for such security. And the fact that it comes at a cost. We have learned that humankind is resilient, that we are all vulnerable, but that heroes are everywhere. We can exploit the characteristics that make us so, shouldering the burden of supporting, rather than protesting, the decisions of society’s leaders, but influencing them to make sure they make the right decisions in the first place. In the final analysis, what 9/11 taught us, above all else, is the need for security. The first duty of government is to provide a safe, secure environ- ment in which we can live, grow and prosper. That cannot be achieved without cooperation at a universal level. The fundamental issue is that comprehensive defence and security is an insurance policy. We have not yet accepted that we need to pay the premiums. So – did we actually learn anything at all? Or do we continue to pound away at the global hamster wheel? Humankind is much given to memorialising events – successes, failure and traumas. Of the latter variety none, perhaps, have been more emotive – or more quietly dignified, in most cases – than the events recalling the day that changed countless millions of lives forever – 9 September 2001. Yet, twenty years on, what has really changed? And what have we learned? Cynics will maintain that nothing has changed – that the world is still as broken as it was on the day preceding the attacks in New York and Washington, DC. Conspiracy theorists will aver that what has changed is we can now see clearly that we are the victims of a global conspiracy with (unsurprisingly) no rational motivation or, indeed, actual evidence. Evangelists and optimists will clamour for agreement that the world is embarked on an enlightened voyage of self-discovery. And the military will strenuously point to the efforts, the costs and the stresses surrounding its actions resulting from political imperatives. The truth – if, indeed, truth can yet be found in so mixed a bag of fact, rumour, prejudice and self-interest – lies somewhere between these points of view. The truth, palatable or not, depending on one’s individual viewpoint, is that much has changed. Or nothing. Which, exactly, depends entirely on what we as society decide to do. And the emphasis here is on the col- lective ‘we’ – as in society at large: concerned citizens, not governments; populations, not politicians; responsible individuals, not criminal self-in- terest. What does that mean? It means that we have learned lessons. It means that we have yet to im- plement effective remedial or preventative actions – or, at least, enough of such actions – to avoid some form of repetition. And it means that we rec- ognize we live in an interconnected, multi-faceted and vulnerable world. It means, to paraphrase George Santayana, that unless we do something to change the course of future history – we run the risk of it becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Perspective is Omnidirectional The most positive lessons learned from 9/11 are those that cause us to look forward, not backward. So much thinking has been devoted to prophylactic measures, however – how to prevent repetition of the same event, rather than securing ourselves against a range of behaviours – that we all too often miss, or forget about, the underlying causes. This is largely, to be honest, due to the very real concerns that those underlying causes are too large, too overwhelming and too difficult of resolution. Since we Tim Mahon is Editor-in-Chief of MilTech . 36 · MT 6/2021 THEME: Homeland Security Tim Mahon Twenty Years On: 9/11 in Perspective The 9/11 memorial in Manhattan. (Photo courtesy Public Domain Pictures)