The tragic events of September 11th 2001 has left an indellible mark on a lot of people. It seems that the psychological impact of this has been exploited by various governments around the world to somehow justify the erosion of rights and privacy of the public. Somehow, it seems, the plans that had been shelved and/or put in the “too hard to implement” baskets became achievable for a lot of governments. Suddenly a lot of broad surveillance and monitoring of public life and activities were being implemented as necessary evils to prevent terrorist attacks. The government, the police and other agencies, as well as the military now had to answer to no one.
What has been markedly growing in the public arena is the shroud of secrecy. Suddenly simple pieces information such as blueprints for buildings became matters of national security. A lot of information that were freely available now became classified documents that were impossible to access. Furthermore, even everyday government business could suddenly become classified the minute someone from the press inquired about it. This is clearly a sign of the detachment of the government from the interest of the people. A government that hides information from the public is a government that has plans that it knows are contrary to the interest of the ordinary people.
Another thing that has been very noticeable is the increase in military activities by the major powers around the world. Even though military adventures began to slowly intensify before 2001 (the Balkans, the attack on Iraq), there has been a marked increase in military interventions around the world, mainly led by the US. The character of these interventions has also changed. Whilst in the past there would be resolutions passed (or rubber stamped) by the United Nations for various military interventions, since 2001 they have become increasingly unilateral. The push into Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, the attack by Israel into Lebanon, the intervention by Australia in East Timor and the Solomons and many more. Militarism is definitely on the rise around the world.
No one can predict exactly what the future holds, but judging by the current political climate there will be more military interventions and wars as all the major powers are getting in on the act to redivide the world according to their areas of interest.