00:0025 years. 25 years already. I'm sure you still remember where you were on that day.
00:08A quarter century after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the images remain etched into the world's collective memory.
00:17Nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania that day.
00:23A traumatic experience that changed America and reshaped global politics.
00:29So, 25 years later, what is the legacy of 9-11 and what lessons should we still be learning?
00:36Joining me now to discuss this is Anthony Gardner, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union during the second
00:42Obama administration.
00:44Good morning, sir. Great to have you on the show.
00:46Good morning. Good to see you again, Stefan.
00:48So, how fundamentally did 9-11 change the United States and did it change the world just as profoundly?
00:57I think it did. I remember where I was that day. Like many of us, I was in a conference
01:04room in the office in London.
01:05We were all called down to a room where the television was on and we felt shock.
01:11Of course, we felt anger, but we also felt unity.
01:15We were a very united country then. Today, unfortunately, we're a very polarized country, which, of course, is a shame.
01:21But I think to answer your question, there are probably three or so big takeaways for me.
01:26One of them is the power of asymmetric warfare.
01:30We saw what damage a small but determined radicalized group of terrorists can do with few tools at their disposal
01:41against a much more powerful force.
01:43And we're seeing that again today, all these years later.
01:47We're seeing it, of course, in the Middle East.
01:50We're seeing it in the Persian Gulf, where Iran is still continuing to inflict damage against the United States after
01:59taking a beating.
02:00We're seeing the power of asymmetric warfare in Ukraine, where the Ukrainians are holding out against a much larger force.
02:09But another takeaway is that, you know, military force is not enough to defeat terrorism.
02:15The idea that we can defeat terrorism just using power is, I think, misguided.
02:20We need financial and economic means. We need diplomacy. We need culture and so forth.
02:25And the other part of what makes sense is that AI is going to make asymmetric warfare even more relevant.
02:30And very quickly, the second takeaway for me is that the United States just can't retreat into a cocoon.
02:37We may lose interest in the world, but the world is not going to lose interest in us.
02:42And the third is that, you know, in the 9-11 report, I was struck at all the information we
02:47were receiving about a possible attack.
02:49And we just didn't manage to process that information fast enough.
02:53For a generation that did not experience that day firsthand, the younger ones, why does 9-11 still matter?
03:03Well, 9-11 still matters for the young for the reasons I think I alluded to is that the world
03:09is full of risks that will affect the United States.
03:15I'm here thinking about, you know, climate change or migration or various types of pandemics and so forth.
03:23The idea that we can retreat into our own borders is simply wrong because all of those risks that have
03:28a transnational impact will have an effect on the United States.
03:33And that's why we need the tools I mentioned, not just military.
03:38And if there is one lesson from 9-11 that political leaders should remember today, what is it?
03:46Well, I think it's cooperation.
03:47We forget that this was a good example of how countries came together.
03:55Our allies immediately expressed support for us.
03:59And, of course, it was the United States principally that defeated that threat and captured Osama bin Laden.
04:07But allies came to our aid at that point.
04:11And we need to remember that we need allies to defend against these kind of threats in the future.
04:17All right, Ambassador Gardner, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
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