September 11, 2001 represents a date in history that none of our contemporaries will forget. This day is the day when the American society, if not the Western world, changed completely and was forced to face the threat of terrorism. After September 11 the whole world changed and this statement can be made with responsibility and not in dramatic terms, using sentimental approaches to describe the beginning of an ongoing war with terrorism.
             The great change that followed September 11 was a change in the American society as a whole, but perhaps the greatest change of all can be identified in the "war on terror" declared by President Bush. This war is more than a revenge of a deeply hurt nation – it is seen as a duty which resides in the historical American nationalism. Perhaps if America was not so deeply nationalistic the war on terrorism wouldn't have been so determined and long-lasting.
             Samuel Huntington presented in his famous work, "The Clash of Civilization" that the world's biggest future conflict will be between the civilizations that he identified, predicting a conflict between the West and Islam. Although he was correct in his predictions, he did not correctly identify the roots of the conflict. The relation between US and Muslim countries is far more complicated than a cultural clash – it deals with the complicated historical relations between some Arab nations and US, with the foreign policy of US, with the image of America in Muslim nations. All these factors combined with extremism led to the tragic events of September 11th.
             Following September 11 the greatest change in US and globally was related to the declared war on terror, followed by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These wars, together with other operations against terrorist groups, represent the American response to the threat posed against liberty and democracy everywhere. There is no doubt that the American resp...