9/11 anniversary
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Duke faculty from a variety of disciplines offer their perspectives on some of the issues -– including a number of legal and religious issues -- and challenges that have arisen since the Sept. 11 attacks occurred in 2001.
- War on Terror
- Reversing Anti-Americanism
- How People Abroad View U.S. Foreign Policy
- Muslim Views of the War on Terror
- Bush Administration Incompetent During 9/11, Katrina
- What is the Value of Memorials?
- A Link Between Literature and Violence?
- Anniversary Reactions
LEGAL ISSUES:
- Constitutional Issues in the War on Terror
- The Law of War
- Executive Powers In Wartime
- Separation of Powers Since 9/11
- Military Commissions
- Trying Suspected Terrorist in Federal Courts
- Impact of Supreme Court in War on Terror
RELIGIOUS ISSUES:
- Scripture and War
- Muslim Views of the War on Terror
- Theology and War
- Church Attendance Five Years Later
- "Just War" Theory
- Pacifism and War
WAR ON TERROR -- David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is available to talk about the strategic aspects of the War on Terror and the United States’ progress -- or lack of progress -- over the past five years. Schanzer is teaching a course this fall called "9/11 and its Aftermath" which, among other things, examines radical Islamic terrorism in the 21 st century. He can be reached at (919) 613-9279 or schanzer@duke.edu.
Wayne Norman, Professor of Philosophy. Research based in and including philosophy, political science, management, business ethics, and applied ethics. Can discuss nationalism, constitutional reform, nation building, and citizenship in diverse societies as well as business ethics topics such as Corporate Social Responsibility, corporate scandals, codes of ethics, transparency, privacy issues, corporate culture, and crisis and reputation management . (919) 660-3033; wayne.norman@duke.edu.
REVERSING ANTI-AMERICANISM -- The Sept. 11 attacks and the sympathy it produced could have been an asset in the U.S.’s fight against anti-American terrorist groups, but the Bush administration squandered the opportunity, said Tim Buthe, an assistant professor of political science. Buthe, who teaches courses on international relations and non-state actors in world politics, said anti-Americanism is now at stunning new heights, even among such close European allies as the British and Italians, but the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 is an opportunity to correct that. "A genuine foreign policy departure, initiated on that occasion, would have special symbolic value," he said. "It could ensure that the world will remember Sept. 11 not primarily as an attack on the centers of American power, but as an attack on widely shared values and aspirations, such as liberty and democracy." He can be reached at (919) 660-4365 or buthe@duke.edu.
HOW PEOPLE ABROAD VIEW U.S. FOREIGN POLICY -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks resulted in almost universal outpourings of sympathy and support for the U.S. But in the five years since then, the public in most countries, including America’s closest allies, have become highly critical of the U.S., some of its institutions and, most especially, of its foreign policies, said political scientist Ole R. Holsti. He said the negative opinions can largely be traced to the war in Iraq. "Most publics abroad believe that U.S. pays little or no attention to the vital interests of other countries, and that the war in Iraq is a diversion from, rather than a contribution to, defeating terrorist organizations," he said. International surveys reveal a few bright spots, including favorable opinions of the American people, economic opportunities in this country, and American science and technology. Holsti’s forthcoming book focuses on the way people abroad view the U.S., and why they hold these views. He can be reached at (919) 660-4348, (919) 942-4232 or holsti@duke.edu.
MUSLIM VIEWS OF THE WAR ON TERROR -- "Continuing the war on terror in both Iraq and Afghanistan as the United States’ primary response to Sept. 11 only ensures that Iraqis and Afghanis will eventually come to hate us, the ‘liberators’ who stayed as ‘occupiers,’" said Bruce Lawrence, Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of Religion and a scholar of Islam. His latest book, "The Qur’an: A Biography" (2006), "tries to recuperate the high ground" for Muslim norms and values with reference to the Qur'an, even while critiquing the way some Muslims, such as Osama bin Laden, use the Qur'an to justify violence. He is also the editor of "Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden" (2005), a comprehensive translation of bin Laden’s public statements dating back to 1994. His 1998 book, "Shatter the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence," looks directly at the links between Islamic fundamentalism and violence. He can be reached at (919) 660-3506 or bbl@duke.edu .
BUSH ADMINISTRATION INCOMPETENT DURING SEPT. 11, KATRINA -- As significant anniversaries for Hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11 approach, historian William Chafe said the two events will be remembered as moments that define the Bush administration as incompetent. "Looking back, Katrina and Sept. 11 will be bookends for an administration that has failed to appreciate and respond effectively to the information it receives," said Chafe, former president of the Organization of American Historians. "Both disasters were marked by failure to appropriately deal with intelligence. With Sept. 11, you had the Aug. 6 memo warning of terrorist plans to hijack airplanes that was ignored. With Katrina, you had a National Weather Service report delivered to the White House the night before the hurricane hit. The administration as a whole was characterized by an inability to identify the seriousness of a situation and then respond decisively and effectively." He can be reached at (919) 684-5436 or william.chafe@duke.edu.
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF MEMORIALS? -- In the U.S., the interest in taking a commemorative census of a tragedy -- by displaying photographs or inscribing names -- gives material shape to a newly fashioned community of the grieving, said Van E. Hillard, assistant professor of the practice of rhetoric, who has examined commemorative practices such as the NAMES Project Quilt and roadside memorials. He can be reached at (919) 660-4369 or by email at vhillard@duke.edu.
A LINK BETWEEN LITERATURE AND VIOLENCE? -- Do killers, artists and terrorists need one another? In their book "Crimes of Art and Terror," published after Sept. 11, Frank Lentricchia and Jody McAuliffe explore how political extremism and avant-garde artistic movements have fed upon each other for at least two centuries. McAuliffe, professor of theater studies and Slavic and Eurasian studies, can be reached at mca@duke.edu or (919) 660-3363; Lentricchia, professor of literature and theater studies, is at frll@duke.edu or (919) 684-6172.
ANNIVERSARY REACTIONS -- John Fairbank, director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at Duke, can talk about terrorism, child traumatic stress, and anniversary reactions to Sept. 11. He can be reached at 919-682-1552 ext. 1 or fairbank@psych.duhs.duke.edu.
LEGAL ISSUES:
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES IN THE WAR ON TERROR -- Law professor and constitutional law expert Erwin Chemerinsky is available to discuss detentions in the war on terrorism, privacy, the Patriot Act, domestic surveillance and electronic eavesdropping, and free speech rights. "Since Sept. 11, some of the worst aspects of American history have repeated themselves with a significant loss of freedom that has not made us safer," Chemerinsky said. "This has included detentions (in the U.S. and Guantanamo), significant invasions of privacy (through the Patriot Act and warrantless eavesdropping), and unprecedented secrecy which undermines government accountability." He can be reached at (919) 613-7173 or chemerinsky@law.duke.edu.
THE LAW OF WAR -- Scott Silliman, executive director of the law school’s Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, is a former Air Force Judge Advocate and an expert in national security and military law. He advocates the use of courts-martial to try suspected terrorists. In July, by invitation, he testified before the Senate Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, and in August briefed members of the House Armed Services Committee on the future of military commissions and options for trying detainees. He can be reached at (919) 613-7138 or silliman@law.duke.edu.
EXECUTIVE POWERS IN WARTIME -- Law professor Curtis Bradley, associate director of the law school’s Program in Public Law, is a specialist in foreign relations and international law. In 2004, he Bradley served as counselor on international law in the Legal Adviser's Office of the U.S. State Department. He has commented and written on issues relating to executive powers and the war on terror, including "Congressional Authorization and the War on Terrorism," which appeared in the May 2005 issue of the Harvard Law Review. He can be reached at (919) 613-7179 or cbradley@law.duke.edu.
SEPARATION OF POWERS SINCE 9/11 -- Law professor Christopher Schroeder, director of the law school’s Program in Public Law, can discuss legislative institutions and the separation of powers, among other issues. He is a veteran of the White House Office of Legal Counsel during the Clinton administration and former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He can be reached at (919) 613-7096 or schroeder@law.duke.edu.
MILITARY COMMISSIONS -- Law professor Madeline Morris serves as advisor to the chief defense counsel for the detainees at Guanatanamo in their proceedings before U.S. military commissions, and is director of the law school’s Guantanamo Defense Clinic. She is an expert in public international law, particularly international criminal law and international criminal jurisdiction. She has provided consultation to the U.S. State Department, Office of War Crimes Issues. She can be reached at (919) 613-7049 or morris@law.duke.edu.
TRYING SUSPECTED TERRORISTS IN FEDERAL COURTS -- Law professor Sara Sun Beale is available to discuss the role of the federal courts in trying suspected terrorists. She is an expert on federal criminal law, the grand jury system and the federal government’s role in the criminal justice system. In 2004, the late Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Beale to serve as the Reporter for the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, which drafts the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. She can be reached at (919) 613-7091 or sun@law.duke.edu.
IMPACT OF SUPREME COURT IN WAR ON TERROR -- Assistant professor of law and political science Neil Siegel can address the implications of major Supreme Court decisions (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld) relating to detainees in the war on terrorism. Siegel, who teaches in the areas of constitutional law and federal courts, served as special counsel to Sen. Joseph R. Biden during the confirmation hearings of John G. Roberts and Samuel A. Alito, and previously clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He can be reached at (919) 613-7157 or nsiegel@law.duke.edu.
RELIGIOUS ISSUES:
SCRIPTURE AND WAR -- Richard Hays, a professor of New Testament in Duke Divinity School, can offer interpretation of scriptural imperatives against war. He can be reached at (919) 660-3411 or rhays@div.duke.edu.
MUSLIM VIEWS OF THE WAR ON TERROR -- See entry above.
THEOLOGY AND WAR -- Amy Laura Hall, an assistant professor of theological ethics in Duke Divinity School, can discuss theological arguments against a preemptive war. (919) 660-3403 or ahall@div.duke.edu.
CHURCH ATTENDANCE FIVE YEARS LATER -- Attendance in churches swelled in the days and weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks, and many ministers brought the war into their sermons -- and sometimes American flags into their churches. Despite much-publicized discussion of a newly awakened spirituality among Americans in the ensuing weeks, those attendance figures have returned to pre-Sept. 11 levels. Did churches miss an opportunity -- or exploit the situation? Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics in the Duke Divinity School, can be reached for comment at (919) 660-3420.
"JUST WAR" THEORY -- Reinhard Huetter, associate professor at the Divinity School, has led a forum on church traditions of pacifism and "just war" thinking. He can be reached at (919) 660-3400.
J. Warren Smith, assistant professor of historical theology in Duke Divinity School and a student of early Christian theology and ethics, can place the "just war" theory in the context of its development in the writings of Augustine and Ambrose in the 4th century. He can be reached at (919) 660-3415 or wsmith@div.duke.edu.
PACIFISM AND WAR -- Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics in Duke Divinity School, is a christological pacifist and is strongly critical of the U.S. build-up for war and war on terrorism. He co-edited a 2002 edition of The South Atlantic Quarterly in which 18 theologians, philosophers and literary critics challenged the war on terrorism and America's reaction to Sept. 11. He can be reached at (919) 660-3420.
