To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, the Baines Report, a graduate student publication of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, has issued a special “9/11 Policy Retrospective” edition. Graduate students analyzed how policy issues such as immigration, veterans’ benefits, national security, energy and media engagement have altered and evolved over the last decade.
Read the student essays:
Redefining Stability in Light of 9/11 and the Arab Spring
By Allison Minor
Minor is a first year dual degree master’s candidate in Global Policy Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.
After 9/11, the United States prioritized fighting terrorism and in its foreign policy, allowing dictators to act as they pleased so long as their regimes were stable. The Arab Spring proved how wrong — and dangerous — that priority was.
Read Minor’s story on the Baines Report …
How the Media Responded When the World Changed
By Meredith Whipple
Whipple is a second year graduate student at the Lyndon B. Johnson School. She currently works for the nonprofit organization Consumers Union, researching telecommunications policies.
The emotions generated by the events of Sept. 11, 2001 contributed to a long-term failure of the media in their role as watchdog of government decisions.
Read Whipple’s story on the Baines Report …
Our National Security Lens is Out of Focus on Immigration
By Allison Ramirez
Ramirez is a third year dual degree master’s candidate in Global Policy Studies at the Lyndon B. Johnson School and Latin American Studies at the Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies. She has worked extensively on issues of migration and human rights in El Salvador.
Our increased militarization of the border after 9/11 creates only a false sense of security at home, with very real security implications for those outside our borders.
Read Ramirez’s story on the Baines Report …
Lessons from the Past
By Miha Vindis
Vindis is a third year master’s candidate in Global Policy Studies.
Remembering 9/11 is important, but remembering our reaction is more so. Forgetting that 9/11, like Pearl Harbor, will one day be an event in a past landscape, led the U.S. into rash action that will effect future generations longer than the memory of the event will remain of central importance.
Read Vindis’ story on the Baines Report …
Blind Consumption: Realizing the Full Costs of Oil
By Jason Brooks
Brooks is a first year student in the master’s of Global Policy Studies program. He is also a former Marine and an Iraq veteran.
The Sept. 11 attacks and resulting wars revealed our energy policy’s emphasis on securing cheap fuel at the expense of defense dollars — but the most profound financial impact, the result of the soaring costs of veteran medical and education benefits, has yet to arrive.
Read Brooks’ story on the Baines Report …
