Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump
- Downloads：4717
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-18 08:51:04
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Spencer Ackerman
- ISBN：1984879774
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Summary
An examination of the profound impact that the War on Terror had in pushing American politics and society in an authoritarian direction
For an entire generation， at home and abroad， the United States has waged an endless conflict known as the War on Terror。 In addition to multiple ground wars， it has pioneered drone strikes and industrial-scale digital surveillance， as well as detaining people indefinitely and torturing them。 These conflicts have yielded neither peace nor victory， but they have transformed America。 What began as the persecution of Muslims and immigrants has become a normalized， paranoid feature of American politics and security， expanding the possibilities for applying similar or worse measures against other targets at home。 A politically divided country turned the War on Terror into a cultural and then tribal struggle， first on the ideological fringes and ultimately expanding to conquer the Republican Party， often with the timid acquiescence of the Democratic Party。 Today's nativist resurgence walked through a door opened by the 9/11 era。
Reign of Terror will show how these policies created a foundation for American authoritarianism and， though it is not a book about Donald Trump， it will provide a critical explanation of his rise to power and the sources of his political strength。 It will show that Barack Obama squandered an opportunity to dismantle the War on Terror after killing Osama bin Laden。 That mistake turns out to have been portentous。 By the end of his tenure， the war metastasized into a broader and bitter culture struggle in search of a demagogue like Trump to lead it。
A union of journalism and intellectual history， Reign of Terror will be a pathbreaking and definitive book with the power to transform how America understands its national security policies and their catastrophic impact on its civic life。
For an entire generation， at home and abroad， the United States has waged an endless conflict known as the War on Terror。 In addition to multiple ground wars， it has pioneered drone strikes and industrial-scale digital surveillance， as well as detaining people indefinitely and torturing them。 These conflicts have yielded neither peace nor victory， but they have transformed America。 What began as the persecution of Muslims and immigrants has become a normalized， paranoid feature of American politics and security， expanding the possibilities for applying similar or worse measures against other targets at home。 A politically divided country turned the War on Terror into a cultural and then tribal struggle， first on the ideological fringes and ultimately expanding to conquer the Republican Party， often with the timid acquiescence of the Democratic Party。 Today's nativist resurgence walked through a door opened by the 9/11 era。
Reign of Terror will show how these policies created a foundation for American authoritarianism and， though it is not a book about Donald Trump， it will provide a critical explanation of his rise to power and the sources of his political strength。 It will show that Barack Obama squandered an opportunity to dismantle the War on Terror after killing Osama bin Laden。 That mistake turns out to have been portentous。 By the end of his tenure， the war metastasized into a broader and bitter culture struggle in search of a demagogue like Trump to lead it。
A union of journalism and intellectual history， Reign of Terror will be a pathbreaking and definitive book with the power to transform how America understands its national security policies and their catastrophic impact on its civic life。
Reviews
André Crombie
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“A measure called the material-witness statute was originally created to stop， in extraordinary circumstances， criminal witnesses from fleeing the country。 During the weeks after 9/11， the Justice Department used it as one of several roundup tools。 It remains unknown， nearly twenty years later， exactly how many people were subject to the roundups; one estimate pegs the number at ten thousand。 A San Antonio radiologist from Saudi Arabia， al-Badr al-Hazmi， emerged from thirteen days in material-wi “A measure called the material-witness statute was originally created to stop， in extraordinary circumstances， criminal witnesses from fleeing the country。 During the weeks after 9/11， the Justice Department used it as one of several roundup tools。 It remains unknown， nearly twenty years later， exactly how many people were subject to the roundups; one estimate pegs the number at ten thousand。 A San Antonio radiologist from Saudi Arabia， al-Badr al-Hazmi， emerged from thirteen days in material-witness detention to ask a reporter， “Who is this Kafka that people keep mentioning？”Notes: A vital， compulsively readable， and unnerving piece of narrative history that will only grow in importance and impact as time passes。 So many gutting and infuriating details; damning for practically anyone with power or authority from 2001 to the present， and uncomfortable reading for those， like me， who are or have been professionally dedicated to electing Democrats。 The War on Terror elements of the closing two chapters （covering the Trump admin， COVID-19， and the start of the Biden admin） were fascinating， but I felt the book ran out of steam just a bit in the final pages。 I suspect it’s largely a matter of timing and context; I’ve read so much recently （and over the past few years） going into every detail of the Trump disaster that the non-natsec narrative just felt overlong and somewhat tertiary。 I imagine that won’t be the case upon rereading in a few years！ 。。。more
Erich
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Spencer Ackerman's Reign of Terror argues that with the end of the Cold War （officially in 1991， though， as Ackerman notes， unofficially ended in the late '80s under Reagan）， America entered into the War on Terror period。 Essentially， the book begins with the Oklahoma City Bombing and ends with the events of 1/6/21。 I would have been interested to see Ackerman speculate on the coming Security State period。 We've already seen the groundwork laid with social media data collection， facial recogniti Spencer Ackerman's Reign of Terror argues that with the end of the Cold War （officially in 1991， though， as Ackerman notes， unofficially ended in the late '80s under Reagan）， America entered into the War on Terror period。 Essentially， the book begins with the Oklahoma City Bombing and ends with the events of 1/6/21。 I would have been interested to see Ackerman speculate on the coming Security State period。 We've already seen the groundwork laid with social media data collection， facial recognition， etc。 That said， as a reporter， I can understand why he chose not to go there。 There are enough facts to write about it， but in the context of this book， some material may be seen as overly speculative。 Ackerman actually acknowledges that there was no way for him to include everything on the subject （not to mention a different subject， albeit one that is closely related）。 Also， he does briefly mention Shoshana Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism for those who'd like to further explore the subject。 I was impressed with Ackerman's ability to connect the similarities of the OKC bombing and 9/11。 Both involved the demolition of a significant building in a major American city and both were blamed on radical Muslims。 That isn't to say that Ackerman implies the events were connected， but he skillfully connects the two events as two separate pieces within the War on Terror chapter。 In fact， Ackerman shows parallels but also striking differences。 Timothy McVeigh attempted to be a martyr， while Muslims across the world were vilified after 9/11。 Early in the book， Ackerman has a quote in which someone discusses the potentially huge setback of bending the Constitution to suit the War on Terror。 Indeed， when one watches unmarked vans taking protestors away in the name of "security，" the image is scary。 This is the latest development。 Ackerman goes into the prior history at length， including rather graphic detail of the CIA's tactics in Guantanamo and Afghanistan。 This is not for the faint of heart。 All in all， the bulk of Reign of Terror deals with 9/11 and how the government's dealing with the aftermath lead， inevitably， to the rise of Donald Trump as president。 Ackerman skillfully demonstrates how George W。 Bush and Donald Trump weren't so different in planting Islamophobia。 Bush was just much more gifted in using subtle euphemisms， while Trump spouted outright hate。 I can't say I agree with Ackerman's view that a journalist must take a side。 I don't believe there is such a thing as pure objectivity， but I do believe attempting to be objective is a good goal。 Despite the fact that one quickly picks up on Ackerman's political views， I didn't find it bothersome。 Ackerman does an excellent job of finding extensive sources （and there is a lengthy citation of sources at the end）。 。。。more
Micah
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