*Note: This letter was originally slated to appear in the September, 2001 issue of PS: Political Science and Politics, but due to editorial mishap the publication was delayed. PS apologizes for the delay.

September 11, 2001, stands as a watershed in American history. Not since the War of 1812 have civilian targets in the United States been so savagely assaulted by foreigners; and the British burning of government buildings in the nation's capital did not begin to approach the degree of carnage inflicted by terrorists in New York City, Washington, D.C., and on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania. Even the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, directed toward a military target, now seems less shocking than the murder of over 3,000 mainly civilian people on 9/11.

The attacks by terrorists against the United States on September 11, 2001, left a scar on the American psyche that will never fully heal. This date, too, will live in infamy, along with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The brutality of the attacks on 9/11 awakened the American people to two central facts of the new century: first, we continue to live in a hostile world, despite the end of the Cold War, and, second, we are vulnerable to adversaries who not only reject our way of life but seek to destroy it.

Reflections on the future of American foreign policy following the September 11 terrorist attacks are best understood as part of a debate that has been on-going since the end of the Cold War. At the heart of this debate are questions of power and national purpose, themes that have long been at the heart of analyses of American foreign policy and are not unique to the post Cold War era. In this symposium I argue that as important as questions of power and purpose are, they constitute only two of the three essential pillars on which any analysis of American foreign policy must build. Questions about the third pillar, responsibility, have been relatively unexplored. Studies of power provide insight into the ability of the United States to act on the international stage. Studies of purpose, or national interest, provide insight into the range of goals that can be pursued or should be pursued in conducting foreign policy. Studies of responsibility direct our attention to questions of obligation, accountability, and definition of community. Only by examining all three pillars can one obtain a full picture of American foreign policy and reach judgements about its content.