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<br> <b>Seminar explores 9/11 – one year on</b>
<p>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’.
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<br>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.
<p>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.
<p>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.
<p>“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.
<p>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”.
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<p>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.
<p>He will talk about Al Qaeda – what and who it is and why the surprise
attacks on New York and Washington.
<p>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”.
<p>“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
<p>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.
<p>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”.
<p>ends.
<br>20 September, 2002
<p>Editor’s note: A copy of Professor Catley’s paper is available upon
request.
<p>For further information contact:
<br>Jane Coates
<br>Media Liaison
<br>Northern Territory University
<br>(08) 8946 6019 or 0438 466 439
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