Mushahid Hussain Says 9/11 Reshaped World Order, Weakened US Dominance
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Former senator and foreign-policy commentator Mushahid Hussain Sayed has argued that the September 11, 2001 attacks marked a major turning point in international affairs, contending that the subsequent US-led wars weakened American global dominance while creating greater strategic space for China and other emerging powers.
Speaking at an event organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in Islamabad, Sayed presented a retrospective assessment titled “9/11 in 25: The Date That Changed the World.”
Sayed said the United States entered the post-9/11 era as the world’s predominant power but no longer occupies the same position 25 years later. He characterised the period as the beginning of a transition toward a multipolar international system, citing China’s rise, Russia’s resurgence and the growing role of regional powers and organisations including BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
These are Sayed’s geopolitical assessments, rather than independently established conclusions about a single cause of changes in US global influence. Shifts in the international balance of power over the past quarter-century have involved numerous economic, demographic, technological, military and political factors.
Post-9/11 Costs
During his presentation, Sayed cited research from Brown University’s Costs of War project on the human and financial consequences of post-9/11 conflicts.
According to the figures he presented, the United States spent about $8 trillion during the two decades following 9/11, while tens of millions of people were displaced and millions died directly or indirectly as a result of conflicts associated with the post-9/11 wars.
The figures require careful attribution because they involve broad methodologies that can include not only direct battlefield deaths but also indirect deaths associated with war-related economic, environmental, infrastructure and public-health disruption.
Sayed also discussed the consequences for Pakistan, arguing that the neighbouring war in Afghanistan contributed to severe instability in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas and transformed Pakistan’s security environment. He linked the period to the emergence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in 2007 and major changes in Islamabad’s Afghanistan policy.
Afghanistan and Iraq Decisions Criticised
Sayed criticised several decisions taken during the early years after 9/11.
He argued that an opportunity for political reconciliation with the defeated Afghan Taliban was missed during the Bonn process in December 2001 and also questioned the decision not to restore Afghanistan’s monarchy. He compared Afghanistan’s subsequent trajectory with Cambodia’s post-conflict experience.
He also cited accounts concerning discussions within the US establishment about possible military action against several countries after 9/11 and referred to criticism of the political forces that supported the 2003 Iraq War.
Those assertions should be presented as Sayed’s interpretation of cited historical accounts rather than as proof that 9/11 itself predetermined subsequent US military campaigns.
‘Greater Israel’ Claim Requires Attribution
Sayed also argued that one consequence of the post-9/11 era was a widening divide between Western and Muslim societies, pointing to the rise of Islamophobia and right-wing racism in Western countries.
He further claimed that the confrontation was reinforced by what he described as Washington’s “Israel First” foreign policy and US support for a “Greater Israel” agenda.
This description is a political interpretation advanced by Sayed, not a neutral or universally accepted characterisation of US foreign policy. “Greater Israel” itself is used in different ways in political discourse and should therefore remain in quotation marks and directly attributed when reported.
Similarly, the assertion that 9/11 “caused America’s decline” is an analytical conclusion made by Sayed rather than a verifiable causal fact.
The more firmly established point is that the September 11 attacks led to profound changes in US foreign and security policy, including the war in Afghanistan, the broader War on Terror, expanded counterterrorism operations and a prolonged period of American military engagement overseas.
Sayed’s remarks present one interpretation of how those decisions affected the international system over the subsequent 25 years.
