Placing 9/11 in History

In most of my course work if not all, September 11 has come up as a topic frequently. Whether the topic is nationalism or security or one of trying to define the paradigm how to study history, the significance of the date and how it has (potentially) changed the world, whether they be shifts in positivist facts or normative values, is debateable.

I came across a New York Times editorial by historian Jospeph J. Ellis that contributes to such a debate. I am not aware of his personal politics, but his willingness to take perhaps the unpopular view of placing 9/11 NOT in the 'greatest events' of US history has some salient points. One main reason I would tend to concur with this is the fact that 9/11 is the result of 30 odd years of US Foreign Policy; further, it is the result of cold war foreign policy being applied during the post-cold war era.