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Lessons and Legacies of the War on Terror

This September 11, 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11. And subsequently, the anniversary of the war on terror. For twenty five years, the architecture of the War on Terror has profoundly reshaped the lives of Muslims, Arabs and other targeted communities in the U.S. and across the globe.

In response, Muslim Counterpublics Lab is organizing a conference, co-sponsored by George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies. We will analyze the impacts of the global War on Terror and how America and its allies continue to deploy War on Terror frameworks, particularly Islamophobia and xenophobia, to manufacture consent for draconian surveillance and immigration policies, and exorbitant military spending for campaigns of ethnic cleansing, genocide, occupation, and extractivism.

Scholars, organizers, advocates, survivors, journalists, and community members will examine lessons from the War on Terror, explore what resistance to this framework of state violence has looked like, and ask how we can imagine a future where infrastructure of the War on Terror is finally abolished. Finally, this conference will hold space to mourn and remember survivors and the millions of victims of the War on Terror, as we continue to demand accountability, justice and reparations.