International terrorism consists of violent or harmful activities to human life that violate the criminal laws of the United States or any state, or would constitute a criminal offense if conducted within the authority of the United States or any state. These actions are meant to frighten or coerce a civilian population, influence government policy, or change government behavior. These crimes cross national borders in terms of the means by which they are carried out, the people they appear to be meant to terrify, and the location in which offenders operate. As recent events have demonstrated, threat of international terrorism have had a great impact on the American political landscape. The devastating terror attacks on 9/11 impacted practically every facet of American society two decades ago, the culture transformed, filled with more dread, the United States waged costly and lethal conflicts (Malley & Finer, 2018). Congress approved major legislation. Following the occurrences of terrorisms, the US government began profiling and monitoring its own population, and ushering in a new era of mass surveillance to enhance the security of civilians and the country’s boarder. Therefore, this paper explains how threats from international terrorism has transformed the American political landscape by expansion of presidential authority, review of the American immigration system, authorization for military force and growth of surveillance.
One of the most significant and long-lasting changes brought about by foreign terrorist threats is the tremendous expansion of presidential authority, which has altered vast swaths of America’s legal and political environment. Within months following the 9/11 events, then-President George W. Bush’s government approved surveillance on Americans (Malley & Finer, 2018). In the years afterwards, there have been efforts to reverse some of these policies, but many post-9/11 trends have remained in place, affecting America’s use of force overseas, immigration and surveillance laws, and the delicate balance of separation of powers (Malley & Finer, 2018). These reforms have had a lasting impact on the interactions of Congress, the court, and the President, as well as the connection that ordinary Americans have with their own government. One of the defining problems of the post-9/11 legal environment has been how to balance national security with expanding presidential power—while also regaining trust in the American government itself.
Secondly, risks from international terrorism prompted a review of the American immigration system. After 9/11, when judges and policymakers began to see immigration as a national security problem, America’s immigration system was radically altered (Helbling & Meierrieks, 2022). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established by Congress in 2002, merging 22 federal departments in the greatest restructuring of the federal government since World War II (Helbling & Meierrieks, 2022). Many DHS divisions, notably Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), have been granted considerable authority and extensive resources to enforce immigration laws both at the border and throughout the country. In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program (Helbling & Meierrieks, 2022). The program mandated men of a certain age who were non-citizens from 25 countries—24 of which had a Muslim majority—to report to immigration offices to be interviewed, fingerprinted, and photographed. The program was later considered non-objective and eventually canceled in 2011.
More permanent has been the DHS’ Secure Communities program, inaugurated under President Bush in 2008, which established a database in which federal, state, and local police forces exchanged information, including fingerprint matching. If an illegal immigrant is apprehended for a traffic offense, ICE is now notified (Helbling & Meierrieks, 2022). The database enabled unprecedented levels of deportation in the United States, sparking outrage and the creation of “sanctuary cities” during Donald Trump’s administration, which harbor undocumented immigrants.
Thirdly, threats of international terrorism have led to the authorization for use of military force. The approval of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) on September 18, 2001—a joint resolution authorizing the United States military to pursue the perpetrators of 9/11—was perhaps the most visible example of Congress expanding presidential authority (Malley & Finer, 2018). The AUMF’s relevance has only risen since its passage. Over the last two decades, several presidents have construed the AUMF to broaden their power beyond just fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, to include operations in Iraq, strikes on ISIS, and various military deployments in other countries such as Yemen, Somalia, and Libya (Malley & Finer, 2018). Just recently, the Biden Administration carried out an airstrike in Somalia under the 2001 AUMF (Helbling & Meierrieks, 2022). The whole list of groups covered by the AUMF is still classified, so Americans have no idea how many actions it authorizes.
Lastly, threats of international terrorism have led to the growth of surveillance. As the War on Terror began, the US government’s monitoring of its own population increased. Some initiatives, such as the President’s Surveillance Program (PSP), a series of secret intelligence actions authorized by Bush in 2001, were begun in secret by the Bush Administration (Rives-East, 2019). PSP comprised warrantless monitoring of communications of persons suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda, as well as warrantless collection and mining of phone and internet metadata from Americans. The program, codenamed “STELLARWIND,” was gradually revealed over the next decade, first in a New York Times piece in 2005 (Rives-East, 2019). The approach was aimed at allowing the government to have access to possible sources of information related to national security.
Furthermore, it was showcased comprehensively in 2013, when the Washington Post and the Guardian released an internal report obtained by Edward Snowden that outlined the activities (Rives-East, 2019). Congress also took many efforts to extend surveillance, including the passage of the Patriot Act following the 911 Attack, which significantly expanded the instruments used by law enforcement to investigate crimes. Among the Act’s many contentious sections was Section 215, which permitted the gathering of business data or any other tangible item deemed relevant to an international terrorism, counterespionage, or foreign intelligence inquiry (Rives-East, 2019). In 2015, Congress approved the USA Freedom Act, which reduced but essentially preserved Section 215 of the Patriot Act (Rives-East, 2019). Section 215 expired in 2020, although other provisions of the Patriot Act, such as the “sneak and peek” clause, are still in effect.
In conclusion, international terrorism has greatly transformed the political landscape of the United States ranging from expansion of presidential authority, increased surveillance, use of military force to changes of American Immigration system. Threats of international terrorism led to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, which merged 22 federal departments in the greatest restructuring of the federal government since World War II. The Authorization of Military Use after the 911 Attack which has been applied in the past two decades by the different American presidents to fight terror groups such as Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab, Taliban in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other terror groups in Yemen, Libya and Somalia. The increased surveillance as a result of curbing the terrorism threats lead to the establishment of the Patriot Act which expired in 2020, however, some sections of it still exists.
References
Helbling, M., & Meierrieks, D. (2022). Terrorism and migration: An overview. British Journal of Political Science, 52(2), 977-996. Web.
Malley, R., & Finer, J. (2018). The long shadow of 9/11: How counterterrorism warps US foreign policy. Foreign Affairs, 97, 58. Web.
Rives-East, D. (2019). Surveillance and terror in post-9/11 British and American television. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.