There is no doubt that the events that occurred in America on September 11th, 2001 created widespread political, foreign and defence policy issues for much of the world. Dominic Streatfeild does not attempt to address these issues in any depth in his book “The History of the World Since 9/11”, but writes about how the US response had a corrupting influence on the political institutions and social fabrics in the US, Australia and UK , countries otherwise known as the “coalition of the willing”. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq provide the setting for the book. The author describes events, some of which are well known and others not so familiar, that arose directly from the deliberate distortion of intelligence reports relating to national security, straight bare faced lies and complete ignorance of the real socio-political situations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The book is a compilation of eight essays each discussing how 9/11 had ramifications beyond its immediate damage to US confidence. The author describes how the response to 9/11 increased racism in the US , caused the process of rendition to become a tool of warfare, led to the misuse of intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction to justify military intervention in Iraq, created bad foreign policy in relation to Uzbekistan, caused havoc in Iraq due to poor and inadequate post – invasion planning, led to the indiscriminate killing of innocent Afghans and to unforeseen effects on the World Health Organisation’s efforts to eradicate polio. One issue that will be especially familiar to Australian readers is the “children overboard affair”. The author analyses and dissects this event in detail and illustrates the way the Australian media were manipulated for cynical political gain by the Howard government.

Peter Gordon is a freelance reviewer.This book is less about the history of the world post 9/11 than about the unforeseen consequences of war. The author uses well researched detail and his own insights to describe the consequences that flowed from decisions based on a poor understanding of the forces that led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In addition, Streatfeild lucidly illustrates how the lack of strategic post- invasion planning in Iraq had massive international repercussions in ways that were beyond the comprehension of the protagonists for war. The consequences of the bellicose attitude and rhetoric of the Bush administration on the behaviour of many US citizens and the alienation of the Muslim community in the US, Iraq and Afghanistan are put into sharp relief.

The powerful sub-text of the book is that expediency is not always the best strategy when it requires the manipulation of the law and a disregard for human rights and democratic principles. The book underscores the need for every citizen to be sceptical of political leaders and to critically appraise the messages coming from them. The reader will surely wonder if the Bush Administration and the Blair and Howard governments had any real understanding of the lessons of history in general or military history in particular. The author’s examples of “group think”, abysmal planning, reliance on faulty and manipulated intelligence and the failure to conceive of unforeseen consequences are stark and worrying.

The author writes with the style and speed of an investigative journalist. Streatfeild’s descriptions make this both an enlightening and frightening book. The reader will be dismayed by the way the public in the West has been deceived by the mendacity of its political leaders. The broad message in this book is that for democracies to work effectively the electorate needs to be educated, well informed and to be conscious of the lessons of history. In this regard Dominic Streatfeild has done us a great service.