What event caused the Global War on Terror?

• A. Terrorist Attacks of Sept. 11, 2001
• B. The Gulf War
• C. The Cuban Missile Crisis
• D. The Kosovo Conflict

Answer: (A)

The event that sparked the Global War on Terror was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These coordinated assaults demonstrated a new level of transnational threat from terrorist networks and led the United States to launch a worldwide campaign aimed at dismantling those networks and preventing future attacks. The immediate goal was to remove safe havens for terrorists, starting with Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and disrupt al-Qaeda, and then expanding to broader counterterrorism efforts around the globe. The other events listed were important historical conflicts with different causes and timelines—The Gulf War was about Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a Cold War nuclear standoff, and the Kosovo Conflict was a regional intervention in the late 1990s. The 9/11 attacks directly initiated the Global War on Terror.