Excerpts from the booklet of the World History Chart
from page 39

With the United States the only superpower left and the Cold War over, the world seemed to become a simpler place. Instead, the great ideological divide of the Iron Curtain was giving way to new divisions among nation-states and nationalities within states.
The United Nations, which had been set up to prevent wars between nations, suddenly found itself in a position where it had to deal with civil wars. At the same time much of the world embraced an almost unchallenged system of global capitalism. But the very success of this transition generated resentment in less developed parts of the world, especially in many Muslim nations.

The response in the Middle East to the challenge of post-colonialism was first Pan-Arabism, then socialist experimentation, and later nationalism. When these concepts failed to be successful, the only alternative - many people felt - was a return to ancient religious traditions, since religion had once been - many centuries ago - the foundation of a powerful Islamic empire. In such an environment numerous zealous groups emerged with a missionary fervor to fight back what was regarded as intrusive Western influence, resulting in a wave of international terrorism.

When terrorist attacks struck New York on Sept.11, 2001, the effect around the world was outrage. The shock was most traumatic in the United States, not only because the assault happened in the commercial center of North America, but also because the American mainland had not previously experienced such a menacing foreign assault. Europe, on the other hand, still had memories of destroyed cities where hundred thousands of people had died during the world wars.

Nevertheless, a war in Afghanistan was widely supported because that nation had unremittingly provided a haven for terrorist camps.
But when Iraq was invaded, a precarious polarization developed because many nations felt the scourge of international terrorism could be contained more successfully through multilateral cooperation. The United States - emboldened by its superpower status - had less confidence in organizations like the United Nations and maintained that sanctions had not been effective enough. Overshadowing this polarization was a worldwide fear that terrorist groups might acquire weapons of mass destruction.