In the wealth of responses to 9/11, one has gone overlooked, and that is the vitalization of a once relatively overlooked discipline, the study of terrorism and its companion, counterterrorism. Prior to 9/11, there were a handful of students of terrorism; they included journalists, policy analysts, and scholars. After 9/11, the contours of the discipline expanded vastly; like Xerox copy that has zoomed out, the field was now larger and more complex. As experts and journalists, practitioners and scholars have scurried around after 9/11 to follow the ever-changing nature of Islamic fundamentalism and its attack on the West, a powerful field of study has taken root, with voices from psychology and philosophy, political theory and law enforcement, history and journalism, humanities and the arts all pitching in. This medley of perspectives has created a living, thriving discipline that insists upon a respect for the past and an awareness of each day's events. It has, in essence, provided the world with a new community of thinkers, in a way, the most comprehensive interdisciplinary conversation yet to take place. As such, it is harvest for the global age.

In December 2004, the New America Foundation, in conjunction with the Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law, hosted a conference that brought into view this development.