The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have forced many Americans to recognize that they ignore the world beyond their own shores at their peril.

The World Responds to September 11 begins where the news media leaves off, providing deep international perspective on the changing world order. An unprecedented array of scholars offer candid and unsparing views of America's role in the world from the vantage point of Africa, Eurasia, Europe, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, providing fresh insight into the varying perceptions of the September 11 attacks and the United States' response. The essays analyze such issues as security, terrorism and international order, globalization and economic liberalism, and the new social and cultural challenges stemming from the terrorist attacks.

Founded in 1923, the Social Science Research Council is an international, not-for-profit organization that seeks to advance the social sciences throughout the world, through international, interdisciplinary themes of public importance.