Global security landscape shifts 25 years after September 11 attacks

Twenty-five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the landscape of global security and the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has undergone significant shifts. The attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths and prompted the United States to launch the ‘global war against terror,’ including the invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent Iraq War.

While WMD threats were previously viewed primarily as state-level concerns, the post-9/11 era highlighted the danger posed by non-state actors and ‘lone wolves,’ particularly following anthrax attacks in the United States. In response, the G8 established the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction in 2002, modeled after the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, to secure WMD legacies in Russia and former Soviet states.

Despite decades of counter-terrorism efforts, jihadist groups have proven resilient and expanded in various conflict zones. Today, rapidly advancing technologies are further reshaping how WMDs can be accessed, developed, and deployed, necessitating updated approaches to global threat reduction.