9/11 and its effects on US intelligence services (PDF)

Pre-University Paper from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,0, , course: Wissenschaftspropädeutisches Seminar US-Politics, language: English, abstract: September 11, 2001 represents the unpreparedness of the Government of the United States against terrorism on domestic territory. Four planes from domestic flights were hijacked by foreigners and used to kill thousands of citizens in the United States. The immense loss made people call for actions taken to defend the emerged danger with new strategies against terrorism respecting circumstances that led to the attacks.

This research paper shows the effect of 9/11 on US intelligence services. Therefore there will be given an overview of intelligence services in the US, a short summary of the attacks and a detailed presentation of two essential laws made in response to the events.

Spying is the world's second oldest profession, a saying goes. No matter what era, humans have always relied on information about rivals. The challenge of spying is to gain that information as it is usually covert by the enemy.

In war, as known till the end of the 20th century, those enemies were usually identifiable as such by common characteristics like their culture, opinions or from previous conflicts. Governments therefore did not concentrate on finding new dangers, but on defending those already known. If enemies manage not to get attention, there is a chance the government is unprepared and doesn't fight them, so their attacks can have a bigger impact.

The immense acceleration of communication in the last century along with globalization and its increased mobility for people all over the world, helps enemies to use that weak point for their purposes. They can spread and connect all over the world to avoid identification, but most drastic, threats can be performed right at the target by only few members without getting attention. Terrorism, previously seen as an affair between nations, became a domestic issue.