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Because of the impact of 9/11, no doubt there could be attempts to produce spectacular violent attack on its anniversary, says聽Emeritus Professor Michael Humphrey.

鈥淧robably the more worrying question, 20 years on, is whether the world is now safer after the US 鈥榳ar on terror鈥�. The post-Cold War project of human rights and democratisation as the means to achieve global peace has not proven to be very effective. The Afghanistan return to Taliban rule is just one example. The vacuums of power in states in the Middle East and Africa have seen international terrorism become geographically dispersed.鈥�

Professor Ben Saul is an international law expert:聽鈥淭he response to 9/11 put huge pressure on international law in many areas 鈥� self-defence, the law of war, torture, targeted killings, military trials at Guantanamo Bay, indefinite detention, and exceptional deviations from human rights law.

鈥淲hile the law has been responsive to genuine needs for change in some areas, it has also stood fast against excessive counter-terrorism responses 鈥� and been vindicated by the failure of responses which violate basic norms.鈥�

鈥淭wenty years on, remembering 9/11 has become less of an event in and of itself. There remains, however, much to honour through memory鈥攖he loss of innocent lives, the sacrifice of the first responders, the coming together of communities, from the local to the global, against the terrorist attack on the United States," said聽Professor James Der Derian, Director, Centre for International Security Studies.

鈥淏ut there are also moments we might wish to forget, forged in fear, trauma, and vulnerability - a disastrous, unnecessary war in Iraq; the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay; illegal wiretaps, surveillance, and suspension of civil liberties in the United States and elsewhere; an abiding suspicion of the foreign other; a search for justice that became indistinguishable from a desire for revenge; and now, this week, one more headstone in the graveyard of empires, that is, Afghanistan, with the possibility that Al Qaeda will become the living dead of global terrorism.鈥�

Associate Professor Jean Bogais, an expert in extremism, terrorism, and international security, directs the Systems Thinking, Futures, and Ethics program at the Australian Department of Defence. He says we need to rethink our 鈥榣inear鈥� approaches to terrorism and extremism.

鈥淰iolent extremism online is on the rise and virtual tribes are thriving. A supposedly defeated ISIS in the Middle East has re-emerged and is active in East and Southeast Asia. White extremist networks are spreading and more connected than ever.

鈥淒espite the enormous resources at their disposal, intelligence agencies failed to forecast the Taliban鈥檚 surge in Afghanistan as we are witnessing. Why? Shouldn鈥檛 we rethink our linear approaches to extremism and terrorism (such as reactive wars) and educate 鈥渟trategists and operators鈥� to think differently and experiment? Terrorists are changing all the time; we need to adapt.鈥�

Hero image: 9/11 photos via Flickr.