25 years after the 9/11 attacks, capitalism is sinking deeper than ever into chaos

The planes, the screams, the collapse of the Twin Towers… 25 years ago, the entire world was left in a state of shock as the deadliest terrorist attack in history unfolded. To mark this sombre anniversary, we invite our readers to read or re-read the article we published in 2001: In New York and the world over: capitalism sows death

In this article from the International Review 107, we argued that this attack was no accident of history. At the dawn of the 21st century, this spectacular attack served as a reminder to all that barbarism had not died out with the previous century – the century of two World Wars, gas chambers, nuclear bombs, Vietnam and the genocide in Rwanda. Behind the 11 September terrorists lurked an even more terrifying monster: decomposing capitalism.

This event was a striking confirmation that decadent capitalism had entered a new phase, its terminal phase: that of its “internal disintegration”, foretold by the Communist International as early as 1919. Marked by the collapse of the Russian imperialist bloc in 1989, followed by the ensuing fragmentation of the American bloc, this period saw capitalism’s inevitable tendency towards war take on unprecedented and chaotic forms, notably the explosion of terrorism on a global scale. Al-Qaeda’s involvement had not yet been clearly established when we wrote this article (Bin Laden would not claim responsibility for the attacks until April 2002). But the fact that they were carried out by an Islamist group that the United States had supported in the 1980s against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan already demonstrated the extent to which capitalism was sinking into instability and chaos. Far from the ‘New World Order’ promised by George Bush Senior after the collapse of the USSR, it was a state of growing disorder that took hold. From ‘allies’ in Europe to warlords such as Bin Laden, via second-tier powers such as Iran or Putin’s Russia, the United States’ former and new ‘partners’ now intended to defend their own interests amidst growing global disorder.

It was against this backdrop that the American bourgeoisie exploited the 11 September attacks to launch its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Although the Taliban did indeed maintain close ties with al-Qaeda, these large-scale military operations were aimed above all at maintaining, by force, the United States’ waning status as the sole superpower, capable of containing imperialist disorder and imposing discipline on all.

Despite the US military’s incredible show of force, the 25 years that have passed have fully confirmed what the 14th Congress of the ICC adopted a few months before the attacks: “The fragmentation of the structures and discipline of the former blocs has unleashed rivalries between nations on an unprecedented scale, leading to an increasingly chaotic, every-man-for-himself struggle, from the world’s greatest powers right down to the smallest local warlords […]. The characteristic of wars in the current phase of capitalism’s decomposition is that they are no less imperialist than the wars in previous phases of its decadence, but they have become more widespread, more uncontrollable, and more difficult to halt even momentarily […] Capitalist states are all caught up in a logic that is beyond their control and which makes less and less sense, even in capitalist terms, and this is precisely what makes the situation facing humanity so dangerous and unstable”.

Twenty-five years later, the Middle Eastern powder keg has exploded: the Taliban have regained power in Afghanistan; Iraq and neighbouring Syria are veritable no man’s lands; the Arabian Peninsula is ravaged by war; Gaza and southern Lebanon lie in ruins; Israel is ruled by a band of bloodthirsty madmen; and the United States has become entangled and permanently discredited in an absurd conflict with Iran. Far from stemming the tide of imperialist chaos, the American invasions have become a major factor in accelerating it. Endless conflicts, tensions and ‘civil wars’ are spreading like wildfire across every continent: Ukraine, Libya, Venezuela, the DRC and perhaps soon the Far East… This is the result of a quarter of a century of the “war on terror”!

EG, 11 September 2026