Free «International Relations and the 9/11 Bombing» Essay Paper

One of the events that have produced many explanations is the 9/11 US bombing, which saw the death of many innocent civilians. Unlike other events, the current one inflicted direct damage on the country in just one day. Some argue that American government was on the wrong, while others argue that the country of Israel led to the attack. However, it is worth remembering that Al-Qaeda group under Osama bin Laden claimed full responsibility for this attack. The Al-Qaeda and their success during the 9/11 bombing shows how a small group can exploit a weakness of an opponent that possesses advanced military might. The 9/11 cannot be attributed to the material capabilities of Al-Qaeda. Instead, their focus and determination at an unexpected time led to their eventual success. Thus, historians, political analysts and other interested parties need to focus on the reason that triggered Al-Qaeda towards the 9/11 bombing and the reason that led to their eventual success. In line with these arguments and as a political scientist, the use of the different levels of analysis helps in proving that a complex process can be explained through simplified analysis.

The behavior of a state or states towards each other can be explained through levels of analysis, which include system level, state level, organizational level and individual analysis level. On the state level analysis, it is believed that state behave the way they do because of the international system. Guided by the power of state in the international systems, some states tend to behave in a certain way. Unlike in the past when many powerful states existed, the modern world is characterized by a unipolar power system, whereby the US is the major superpower. Because of this state, the US has been involved in the affairs of the Middle East region, such as the Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan.

For a long time now, the US as the only super power has been involved in the Middle East affairs. This involvement has triggered much opposition from various nations and individuals, including the Al-Qaeda. Earlier on, the Al-Qaeda group leader had personally stated this, as he argued the west, especially the US had supported Muslim attack in various regions. In addition, the group also explained that their war against United States was caused by the US heavy presence in the Middle East.

Apart from the system level analysis, the other analysis level that can be used to explain the 9/11 bombing is the state level analysis. States behave in a certain way towards each other. The US in particular, is known to behave in a certain way towards other states and international relations. Most people believe that the US trusts in its own ideas and tries to impose its beliefs on others. However, the nation does not understand that cultures and beliefs are different. For example, Muslims are group focused while Europeans and Westerners are individualistic. Therefore, imposing its beliefs on other nations led to a strong hatred from most Muslims and eventually led to the 9/11 bombing.

Apart from the two levels analysis, organizational level analysis could also explain the cause of the current situation. This analysis level assumes that a state does not make decisions on its own. Instead, there are different organizations within the state that influence a state’s decision. As seen earlier, the 9/11 bombing was caused by the high presence of US in the East. This decision was not made by the state alone. Instead, organizations within the state such as The Congress, The White House among others made joint decisions to influence the US towards its presence in the East. Other organizations that were involved included the US military and the department of defense among others.

Lastly, individual level analysis, which focuses on people also helps in explaining the cause of the 9/11 bombing. It is believed that foreign policy decisions are made by people. For example, scholars mostly focus on different leaders and their roles in the state within which they govern. For example, the 9/11 US bombing happened during the Bush administration era. Earlier on, Bush had orchestrated the US presence in the Middle East. Although his decisions were backed by other institutions in the country, his leadership was the main factor that the nation was heavily involved in the Middle East. Some people believe that Bush’s motives towards all this were based on his desire to see drive his nation towards ownership of oil resources in the Middle East. Others believe that Al-Qaeda had warned the nation of impending attacks. To prove this, the terrorist group had attacked several US embassies in different parts of the world. However, the president did not take all these warnings seriously. It was only after the attacks that the leader and other institutions came into realizing what had happened and the gravity of earlier warnings by the terrorist group.

As seen from the level analysis explanations, the major reason behind the 9/11 bombing is based on the nation’s lack of neutrality and involvement in the affairs of other nations, especially the Muslim nations. The country needs to understand the cultural differences that exist between a Christian and a Muslim nation. The laws that govern the two religions are different. For example, Muslims are against intruders from other religions. When faced with such situations, Muslims engage in peace wars known as Jihads, which are done to save their religion from intruders.

Apart from religious differences, the US need to understand that there is a huge cultural difference between the West and the East. The West is individualistic while the East is known to be more group focused. The East is conservative and values such things as the Islamic law and families. On the other hand, these things are fairly valued within the Western culture. Following this, the US needs to take a more neutral position.