The Unthinking Decade

Anne Appelbaum explains the opportunity costs of 9-11:

In our single-minded focus on Islamic fanaticism, we missed China’s transformation from a commercial power into an ambitious political power. We failed to appreciate the significance of economic growth in China’s neighborhood. ...We also missed, at least initially, the transformation of Russia from a weak and struggling partner into a sometimes hostile opponent.

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Thanks to the war on terror, we missed what might have been a historic deal on immigration with Mexico. Because Latin America was irrelevant to the war on terror, we lost interest in, and influence on, that region. The same goes for Africa, except for those countries that have al-Qaeda cells.

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Finally, we stopped investing in our infrastructure...and we missed the chance to rethink our national energy policy.

September 11, 2001. The day America stopped thinking.