A glance over my shoulder

We are less than three weeks away from the tenth anniversary of 9/11. This year of 2011, less than 2/3 gone, has been without a doubt --- and appropriately enough --- the most noteworthy of the decade, to wit, the assassination, at long last, of bin Laden, and the blooming (apparently) of an Arab Spring.

Was the War on Terror worth the money --- borrowed money --- Uncle Sam spent on it? If the Arab Spring becomes a Summer of Democracy in the Arab World... then I say "yes."

From a personal perspective, the past decade saw a trip to Israel in 2007, as an Academic Fellow on Terrorism of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. It also saw the 2009 publication of my book, AL QAEDA GOES TO COLLEGE: IMPACT OF THE WAR ON TERROR ON AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION.
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This book sprang from two wells: My experiences here at my university, which is little more than an hour from Ground Zero and just minutes from the Hamilton (NJ) post-office, also ground zero, i.e., of the subsequent anthrax attacks. And my extensive coverage of the War on Terror in my weekly newspaper column, which ran for more than five of the past 10 years, ATTORNEY AT LARGE.
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Terror is not just a thing of the past. It remains a threat and a challenge for America and world. I will continue to be an "active observer." On my website, I will soon be offering a Learning Module consisting of my young-adult novel NED MACADOO AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRES, which deals with domestic terrorism in the US, past and present.
A preview is available on YouTube.
And in Spring 2011 I will be teaching an online course on Terrorism/Counter-terrorism Law.

America is a different nation due to the War on Terror. There is no going back to the pre-9/11 world; that came crashing down along with the towers. But something new is being built.
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