After 9/11: How the Muslim became a security subject

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Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, the most enduring legacy of 9/11 may not be the destruction of the World Trade Center or even the wars that followed. It may lie in something less visible but more enduring: the transformation of the Muslim from a religious and political identity into a security subject. The attacks were an act of mass terrorism, but their historical significance lies equally in how governments subsequently interpreted and responded to them. The question, therefore, is not only why 9/11 happened, but how its aftermath changed the meaning of security itself.

The immediate response was understandable. The United States declared a “War on Terror”, invaded Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq, expanded intelligence cooperation and transformed counterterrorism into a central principle of international security.