Looking back at 9/11: What Happened, and What It Means Today

On September 11, 2025, the Clements Center for National Security, the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Intelligence Studies Project hosted a panel discussion entitled “9/11: What Happened, and What It Means Today.” Held in the William C. Powers Student Activity Center Ballroom, the event brought together some of UT’s most distinguished leaders in law, policy, intelligence, and the military to reflect on the enduring legacy of the September 11 attacks.

Panelists included Bobby Chesney, Dean of the University of Texas School of Law, Will Inboden, Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Texas, Adam Klein, Director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, Major General (Ret.) Jeannie Leavitt, Distinguished National Security Fellow of the Clements Center, Vice Admiral (Ret.) Joe Maguire, Executive Director of the Clements Center, Admiral (Ret.) Bill McRaven, Former UT Chancellor and Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, and Steve Slick, Director of the Intelligence Studies Project. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Founder and Director of the Asia Policy Project, moderated. Their conversation moved from remembering the losses of that day to assessing how 9/11 reshaped U.S. foreign policy, intelligence structures, and military operations.

Together, the panelists examined what happened on September 11, how the United States responded, and the ways those events continue to define U.S. policy and strategy. More than twenty years later, the questions remain urgent: how should the United States balance liberty and security, what lessons from the counterterrorism era should inform strategy in a period of renewed great power competition, and how do the legacies of 9/11 shape the challenges of today? By revisiting these issues, the event underscored the importance of understanding 9/11 not only as a moment in history, but as a turning point that continues to shape American policy and strategy. It invited participants to reckon with the past while considering the future, highlighting the responsibility of today’s leaders and students alike to grapple with the consequences of that day and to apply its lessons to the complex threats the United States faces now.

Watch: “Looking back at 9/11: What Happened, and What It Means Today”

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