Commentary on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks for INFO.CZ
Date of publication: September 10, 2026
On September 10, 2026, Filip Sommer, Director of the Prague Centre for Middle East Relations (PCMR) at CEVRO University, spoke to INFO.CZ about the transformation of the global security landscape 25 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the interview, he focused on the long-term consequences of the war on terror, developments in the current terrorist threat, and the impact of US interventions in the Middle East.
Kontext
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 fundamentally transformed the landscape of international security and the way in which Western states approach the fight against terrorism. The immediate response was the launch of a wide-ranging war on terror, which led to military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, extensive reforms of security and intelligence agencies, and a significant strengthening of international cooperation in the sharing of intelligence. At the same time, however, it sparked a long-running debate about the boundaries between security, privacy, and civil liberties.
In an interview, Filip Sommer points out that a quarter of a century after the September 11 attacks, it is not possible to assess the war on terror unequivocally. On the one hand, there has been a significant improvement in the ability to prevent large-scale, coordinated attacks, and a number of the most significant terrorist organizations have been weakened through targeted operations against their leadership. On the other hand, the threat itself has not disappeared, but has taken on a different form. Instead of centralized organizations such as the original al-Qaeda, regional offshoots and decentralized networks operating primarily in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia are now gaining increasing prominence.
The interview also examines the long-term consequences of US interventions in the Middle East. Whilst the operation in Afghanistan was a direct response to the September 11 attacks, the invasion of Iraq significantly altered the regional balance of power and created the conditions for the emergence of new security threats, including the rise of the Islamic State. These events demonstrate that military superiority alone does not guarantee long-term stability or the establishment of functioning state institutions.
A significant part of the interview is also devoted to the current nature of terrorism. Alongside regional jihadist organizations, the decentralized radicalization of individuals via the internet, social media, and encrypted communication platforms poses an ever-greater challenge to Europe and the United States. The current terrorist threat is therefore more dispersed, more difficult to predict, and requires different security tools than it did twenty-five years ago.
In conclusion, it is pointed out that the fight against terrorism cannot be viewed as a conflict that can be won once and for all. Although the ability of a number of organizations to plan large-scale attacks has been curtailed, their ideology and capacity to adapt remain. Future success will therefore depend not only on security measures, but also on the ability to address the political, economic and social factors that extremist organizations have long exploited to gain support.