How did the September 11 attacks and the challenges of the new century reshape the United States and its role in the world?
Topic 9.6 Challenges of the 21st Century: the post-Cold War world, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis, and growing political polarization.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.6, covering the challenges of the new century: the post-Cold War world and the Persian Gulf War, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2008 financial crisis, the election of Barack Obama, and rising political polarization.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 9.6 asks you to explain the challenges of the early twenty-first century: the post-Cold War world and the Persian Gulf War, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis of 2008, the election of Barack Obama, and rising political polarization. The exam wants how 9/11 and the new century's challenges reshaped the nation and its role in the world.
The post-Cold War world
September 11 and the War on Terror
The home front and civil liberties
The War on Terror reshaped life at home. The government greatly expanded security and surveillance, creating the Department of Homeland Security and passing the Patriot Act, which broadened government powers to monitor and detain. These measures reignited an old American debate over the balance between security and civil liberties, echoing earlier wartime crackdowns from the Espionage Act to Japanese American internment. The tension between protecting the nation and preserving freedom became, once again, a central question, one the exam often asks students to connect across periods.
A century of crisis and division
Worked example: arguing 9/11 changed American policy
Try this
Q1. Name the 2001 terrorist attacks that launched the War on Terror. [Recall]
- Cue. The September 11 attacks, carried out by al-Qaeda.
Q2. Explain how the September 11 attacks reshaped both foreign and domestic policy. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Abroad, the attacks led the United States to launch a War on Terror, invading Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003; at home, the government expanded security and surveillance through the Patriot Act and new agencies, which reignited the long-running debate over how to balance national security against civil liberties.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP USH (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE challenge the United States faced in the early twenty-first century. Briefly explain ONE government response to it. Briefly explain ONE lasting effect of that challenge.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per bullet.
A. Describe: the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and shocked the nation.
B. Response: the United States launched a War on Terror, invading Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 and expanding security and surveillance at home.
C. Effect: the wars proved long and costly, and debates over security versus civil liberties and over America's global role have continued.
Markers want a real challenge, a concrete response, and a genuine lasting effect.
AP USH (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which the September 11 attacks changed United States foreign and domestic policy in the period 2001 to 2010.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point rubric.
Thesis (1): "The September 11 attacks profoundly changed American policy, launching a War on Terror, two long wars, and an expansion of security and surveillance at home, though they also revived older debates over intervention and civil liberties."
Contextualization (1): the post-Cold War world in which the United States was the sole superpower.
Evidence (2): the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; expanded domestic security such as the Patriot Act and the debate over civil liberties.
Analysis (2): explain HOW 9/11 reshaped foreign and domestic policy, then add complexity by weighing continuities in American debates over intervention and liberty.
Related dot points
- Topic 9.1 Contextualizing Period 9: the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, globalization, and the technological and demographic changes that have shaped the United States since 1980.
Sets the scene for AP US History Period 9, covering the rise of conservatism under Reagan, the end of the Cold War, globalization and a changing economy, the digital revolution, demographic change, and how to write contextualization for a DBQ or LEQ on the contemporary era.
- Topic 9.3 The End of the Cold War: the renewed Cold War of the 1980s, the role of Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of communism in Europe, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.3, covering the end of the Cold War: the renewed superpower tensions of the early 1980s, the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the debate over why the Cold War ended.
- Topics 9.4 and 9.5 A Changing Economy, Migration, and Settlement: the forces of globalization, the digital revolution, and the new immigration that reshaped the United States since 1980.
A focused answer to AP US History Topics 9.4 and 9.5, covering a changing economy and globalization: the shift from manufacturing to services and technology, the digital revolution, free trade and globalization, growing inequality, and the new immigration from Latin America and Asia and its political debates.
- Topic 9.2 Reagan and Conservatism: the rise of the New Right, the policies of the Reagan administration, and the conservative reshaping of American politics.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.2, covering Reagan and conservatism: the roots of the conservative resurgence and the New Right, Reaganomics and supply-side economics, deregulation and the military buildup, the role of the religious right, and the limits and legacy of the conservative movement.
- Topic 9.7 Causation in Period 9: using the historical reasoning skill of causation to analyze the developments of the contemporary era.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.7, teaching the historical reasoning skill of causation through Period 9: explaining the causes of the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, and the transformations of globalization and technology, and how to frame a causation essay for the DBQ or LEQ.
Sources & how we know this
- AP United States History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)