[Ntu-media-releases] media release - Seminar explores 9/11 - one year on

[robert boskovski]

   Seminar explores 9/11 – one year on

Last week, as the world remembered the tragic events of September 11,
the Northern Territory University’s, Professor Bob Catley, was preparing
to address members of the Australian Institute of International Affairs
– his topic, ‘September 11, The International Dimensions for America’.

Professor Catley, Associate Dean of the School of Business and
Foundation Professor of Governance, presented a timely, interesting and
provoking paper to the Adelaide symposium just two days after the
anniversary of 9/11. He will present the same paper today, at the NTU’s
Casuarina Campus in a free seminar to be held in Building 22, room 2, 12
noon to 1 pm.

Providing the keynote address at the Australian Institute of
International Affairs, Professor Catley explored the thrust of US
foreign policy since 1917 and possible reasons leading to why the US was
attacked.

In his paper, Professor Catley said during the Clinton administration
the US tried when possible to pursue such objectives as the
liberalisation of the capitalist world economy and the pursuit of
representative systems of government  through multilateral agencies and
methods. He then updated this idea, expressing the view that with the
new Bush administration, the US would become more unilateralist.

“The attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on 11 September
2001 served to accelerate this trend towards unilateralism in US foreign
policy. It has also heightened the tension between liberalism and self
interest as US policy makers and people have become vengeful and more
stridently self-righteous”, Professor Catley wrote.

Furthering his discussion, Professor Catley said, “The reasons for the
attack on the US were chiefly to do with the resentment of certain
radical Islamic organisations towards US power, Christianity and
Judaism.  In this they have been able to draw on a long vein of
resentment against US hegemony to be found in many parts of the world”.


          more




During today’s presentation, Professor Catley will explore the US
defence of the state of Israel and it’s ensuring the security of the oil
routes out of the Middle East while discussing political mobilisation of
domestic and international opinion following 9/11.

He will talk about Al Qaeda – what and who it is and why the surprise
attacks on New York and Washington.

Turing to current events, Professor Catley will cover the US campaign
for “a further ‘regime change’ strategy, this time to involve Iraq”, and
President Bush’s argument to the UN that Iraq had “defied the 1991
agreement with the UN and the many subsequent resolutions of the body,
it should now endorse action against the Iraqi regime if it continued
with non-compliance”.

“The case that the Iraqi government was involved in the planning and
executing of the 9/11 attacks has not been publicly and persuasively
made by the US. It has, nonetheless, made a good moral case that Saddam
Hussein should be removed. But morality is rarely the whole of the
political,” said Professor Catley

With so many dimensions to the War on Terror, Professor Catley considers
the Israeli conflict with the Palestinians, US foreign policy post 9/11,
the shrink in sympathy for the US and the establishment of a new public
relations office to sell Bush policies and the War on Terror.

Lastly, Professor Catley will talk about Australia’s involvement in the
War on Terror, the invocation of the ANZUS Treaty by the US, and how he
believes that because “Australia will find involvement almost impossible
to avoid, even if it wanted to, its diplomacy should presently be
directed towards persuading the US to continue to use the instrument of
multilateral and UN centred diplomacy around the issue of regaining
access to Iraq by UN weapons inspectors”.

ends.
20 September, 2002

Editor’s note: A copy of Professor Catley’s paper is available upon
request.

For further information contact:
Jane Coates
Media Liaison
Northern Territory University
(08) 8946 6019  or  0438 466 439



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