The long shadow of 9/11 and the retreat of an independent New Zealand foreign policy

Jiro Ose/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Twenty-five years ago today, the world’s strongest military state found itself powerless to prevent attacks on its homeland by al Qaeda, a small transnational terrorist group.

Now, a quarter of the way into the 21st century, it’s possible to identify the major trends that have shaped the world and New Zealand’s place in it since that terrible day.