Two decades after 9/11: was Southeast Asia’s support of the US war on terror worth it?

The region largely welcomed greater US cooperation after 9/11, with the war on terror helping some Asean states to further their own agendas

But the US failed to make the most of the engagement, experts say, and its torture of detainees left mixed messages about the values it was seeking to promote

Reading Time:6 minutes

Published: 12:01am, 9 Sep 2021Updated: 4:59pm, 13 Sep 2021

The deadly terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, prompted an outcry from around the world: “We are all Americans.” Washington’s policies realigned around fighting terrorism and bilateral relationships strengthened or crumbled depending on where other governments stood. In the sixth in a series about the legacy of September 11, Bhavan Jaipragas looks at Southeast Asia’s support of the US-led global counterterrorism effort.

On Colin Powell’s first visit to Southeast Asia as US Secretary of State in July 2001, just weeks before the September 11 attacks, he stressed that his country was not quite the self-serving and unilateralist superpower that naysayers had made it out to be.

Instead, much like the present-day top US government officials, Powell offered repeated assurances that the US was in fact a “Pacific nation” committed to advancing mutual interests by maintaining its economic and strategic presence in the neighbourhood.

“I think over time, people will see that we are not unilateralists, we are deeply engaged,” Powell said in Hanoi on July 26, 2001, as he swung by the communist-ruled nation for meetings with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) grouping.

Vietnam Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien meets US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the Government Guesthouse in Hanoi on July 25, 2001. Photo: AFP

Criticism of US President George W. Bush’s administration was at the time mounting for its perceived go-it-alone stance after it failed to join or ratify several global treaties – including the Kyoto treaty on climate change and the Biological Warfare Convention.

These pacts were exceptions that did not serve US interests, but otherwise “people will see that we do want to participate in the larger world community”, Powell said.

SCMP Series

The legacy of the 9/11 terror attacks, 20 years on

[ 6 of 7 ]

Two decades after 9/11: was Southeast Asia’s support of the US war on terror worth it?

The region largely welcomed greater US cooperation after 9/11, with the war on terror helping some Asean states to further their own agendas But the US failed to make the most of the engagement, experts say, and its torture of detainees left mixed messages about the values it was seeking to promote