Fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks

The fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will generate a good deal of reflection on the state of domestic security, the war on terror, international relations and civil liberties, to name a few issues. Several University of Wisconsin–Madison professors are available to offer perspectives to media, and an event will provide an opportunity for discussion about the post-9/11 world.

Finding a balance between heightened security and a free society: The post-9/11 world has required some meaningful adjustments in the balance between liberty and security, says political scientist Donald Downs, who is currently researching a book on the topic.

“Historically, the pendulum shifts based on the necessities of the time, so there is nothing inherently wrong with this,” Downs says. “We now confront a new threat from militant Islam, with terrorist actions threatening the West with major disruption, including the possible use of weapons of mass destruction.”

That said, Downs stresses that basic civil liberties and freedom of speech must also be maintained as “hallmarks of our free society.” Checks and balances in the federal system must be maintained, including due checks on the executive branch, which naturally increases its power to deal with meaningful threats.

Though Downs supports the Bush administration’s overall reaction to the threat of terror, he says the administration has acted too unilaterally, paying insufficient heed to the system of checks and balances; it has done a poor job of making the case for a new principled balance between liberty and security; it has done a poor job of winning the respect and support of allies domestically and around the world in the effort to suppress terror.

Forum to offer perspectives on post-9/11 world: The Division of International Studies and the Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE) will co-sponsor a panel discussion on “Perspectives on a Post-9/11 World.” The forum will be held at noon on Monday, Sept. 11, at the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. (Check Today in the Union for location.)

Speakers will include Vicki Bier, professor of industrial and systems engineering and director of the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis; Capt. Scott Mobley, U.S. Navy and UW–Madison professor of naval science; Jon Pevehouse, associate professor of political science and director of the international studies major; and Jeremi Suri, associate professor of history, WAGE senior fellow and director of the Global Security Initiative.

The discussion will be moderated by WAGE’s associate director, Alison Alter, and feature opening remarks by the dean of International Studies, Gilles Bousquet. Among the topics discussed will be global security, presidential powers, public opinion, general emergency preparedness and the role of the military post-9/11. The event is free and open to the public.

Nation is better prepared for bioterrorism: Dennis Maki, Ovid O. Meyer Professor of Medicine and head of the infectious disease section at UW Hospital and Clinics, says that in terms of bioterrorism (and the specter of pandemic influenza or other new natural infectious disease), the nation is far better prepared to deal with a threat today than it was five years ago, but it still has a long way to go, particularly in being able to implement a coordinated response at the community level.

Are we safer? Maki says that al-Qaida is more desperate than it was five years ago, so America has to be even more vigilant. We are probably safer than we were in 2001, but not as safe as we’d like to think we are.

However, Maki believes that today the nation would react much more effectively if confronted by the threat of a biological weapon or a natural epidemic.

Maki has served as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Council on Public Health Preparedness since 2002.