Commentary Week in Review: The World Since Sept. 11, 2001

Turkey's giving up on Europe and looking East instead, A.Q. Khan's a hero in Pakistan, Chavez is buying influence, China's rewriting history, it's somehow getting worse in Sudan, sanctions will just inflame North Korea and the United States should cut a deal with the Taliban to fix Afghanistan. In a nutshell: The op-ed pages ran the gambit this week.

But one theme did emerge. With the five-year anniversary of September 11 upon us, there was no shortage of reflective articles about how the world has, or has not, changed since New York's twin towers came crumbling down.

"It was the beginning of a new chapter in history," wrote William J. Dobson in USA Today on Sept. 6. "Yet, if you look closely at the trend lines since 9/11, what is remarkable is how little the world has changed. The forces of globalization continue unabated; indeed, if anything, they have accelerated."

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