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chaP ter 11

Bush and Obama, Wars and

Economy: Power and

People in an Age of Limits

and Loss

O

n September 11th, 2001, the planes that hit the World Trade Center did
not just kill thousands and destroy buildings, but shocked the world and
started a chain of events that have led to an epic global crisis in the first
decades of the 21st Century. The U.S. response to 9/11 has brought its soldiers
into 2 bloody wars, led to government attacks on constitutional rights and
civil liberties like those in the time of McCarthyism, cost the nation trillions
of dollars and contributed to economic collapse, and has seriously damaged
America’s credibility and reputation in the world. Even the 2008 election,
which, it seemed, would bring some relief to some of these problems with the
election of the nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama of
Illinois, who promised “change we can believe in,” has done little, beyond
symbolism, to actually make the situation improve. Where the period after the
U.S. Civil War, and especially the 20th Century, began with America gaining
power, at home and globally, the 21st Century showcases the limits of
American power. In small, less-technologically advanced countries like Iraq
and Afghanistan, the U.S. is finding it cannot impose its will. At home, the