Marking the 25th anniversary of September 11, host Jadwiga Biskupska sat down with deRaismes Combes to explore how that tragic morning permanently reshaped American security, culture, and everyday life. Drawing from her forthcoming book, Becoming the Stranger: American Identity and Security in the Shadow of 9/11, Combes unpacks thousands of public records, media reports, and pop-culture touchstones to examine how our shared national story took root.
Rather than viewing the post-9/11 era as inevitable, she highlights the human choices that elevated counterterrorism into an open-ended state of war. From the routine hassles of airport screening to the expansion of covert drone strikes, daily routines quietly transformed as the lingering perception of threat shifted toward the unknown stranger next door.
Together, Combes and Biskupska tackle the central question of whether these sprawling policies have truly made us safer, or if enduring anxiety continues to sideline critical debate. For both those who remember the day vividly and the rising generation that only knows its aftermath, this discussion offers a vital, reflective look at risk, strategic empathy, and the hidden costs of national security.
The perception of whether we’re safer or not, I think, is where the meat of the question is, particularly, at least in the way I look at 9/11. And right now, every year around this time, obviously we remember 9/11 and we think back to our feelings that day and we kind of refeel that insecurity.
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M.L. deRaismes Combes is an associate professor of National Security at the U.S. Army War College. Her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy, irregular warfare, and the Middle East. Dr. Combes holds a PhD in International Relations from American University’s School of International Service and was a fellow at the University of Texas at Austin’s Clements Center for National Security. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Becoming the Stranger: American Identity and Security in the Shadow of 9/11.
Jadwiga Biskupska is associate professor of military history at Sam Houston State University and co-director of the Second World War Research Group, North America. She is the Harold K. Johnson Visiting Chair of Military History at the U.S. Army War College for AY26. She received her PhD from Yale University. Her first book, Survivors: Warsaw under Nazi Occupation (Cambridge University Press 2022), won the Heldt Prize and an honorable mention for the Witold Pilecki International Book Award.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of War.
Photo Credit: Created by Gemini
