The months since the World Trade Center bombing have seen a tidal wave of quick prognostications and breakneck analysis by instant experts on the payrolls of the major news stations. Yet it is increasingly clear that the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks marked a seismic shift in American life, and that the full reverberations of the events have yet to be felt. In Critical Views of September 11, the nation’s foremost thinkers offer the most informed and penetrating analysis of the long-term impact of the crisis of terrorism, sketching for the first time the unexpected world of the twenty-first century.

Essays in the volume examine the impact of September 11 on international relations, democracy, warfare, global markets, immigration policy, and perceptions of Islam, among many other topics. For all of us who seek deeper understanding in troubling times, Critical Views of September 11 will provide the most complete road map yet available to a rapidly changing world.