25 years after 9/11, our definition of terrorism continues to expand

Summary of 25 years after 9/11, our definition of terrorism continues to expand

by NPR

27m•September 8, 2026
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Overview of NPR Code Switch

This Code Switch episode examines how the U.S. definition of “terrorism” has expanded since 9/11—and how that label, once heavily racialized against Muslims, is now being applied more broadly to left-leaning activists, protesters, and even political opponents. Through interviews with a researcher on Muslim Americans and historian Alex Lubin, the episode argues that “terrorism” is not just a legal term but a political tool used to justify surveillance, policing, and state violence.

Key Takeaways

  • Post-9/11 terrorism policy was deeply racialized

    • After 9/11, Muslims were the primary targets of counterterrorism suspicion, even when official policy did not explicitly say so.
    • Programs like the USA PATRIOT Act, secret evidence, NSEERS (the special registration system for people from selected countries), TSA, DHS, and ICE were all part of the new security architecture.

  • Counterterrorism tools have spread beyond Muslims

    • The episode highlights how surveillance and anti-terror frameworks are now being used against:
      • Black Lives Matter protesters
      • pro-Palestinian campus activists
      • anti-ICE protesters
      • Antifa-associated defendants
    • The concern is that measures created to prevent another 9/11 are now being repurposed to suppress dissent.

  • The label “terrorist” has long been politically flexible

    • Historically, the U.S. has applied the term to many groups it saw as threatening state power, including:
      • Indigenous people resisting colonization
      • Black Power and Black Panther activists
      • Chicano and Brown Beret organizers
      • anti-imperialist movements abroad
      • drug dealers during the War on Drugs
    • The episode stresses that “terrorism” often means “violence we deem illegitimate,” while state violence is treated as normal or justified.

  • Trump-era rhetoric is part of a longer trend

    • The Trump administration’s use of “terrorist” to describe Antifa, protesters, and political enemies is presented as an escalation—but also as continuity with older U.S. state practices.
    • The episode argues this reflects a broader move toward shrinking due process and expanding executive power.

Historical Context

From the War on Terror to “the homeland everywhere”

  • After 2001, the U.S. increasingly treated terrorism as a global, borderless threat.
  • Alex Lubin describes this as the “everywhere war,” where counterterrorism logic spread from Afghanistan and Iraq into domestic policing and surveillance.
  • The concept of the “homeland” became expansive: not just the U.S. inside its borders, but a justification for security actions anywhere, including on U.S. soil.

Older roots in colonial and domestic repression

  • Lubin traces the logic of counterterrorism back further:
    • colonial wars against Indigenous people
    • suppression of anti-colonial movements overseas
    • domestic repression of Black, Native, and antiwar movements
  • The episode frames terrorism as a category often used to delegitimize resistance and authorize extraordinary force.

Why It Matters Now

  • Civil liberties are at risk

    • The episode warns that once someone or some movement is labeled “terrorist,” due process can narrow quickly.
    • State actors may be treated as judge, jury, and executioner.

  • The public debate has shifted

    • The conversation around gun rights, abortion, and executive power is loud, but the discussion around surveillance, privacy, and state violence is less visible.
    • The episode argues Americans should pay more attention to how terrorism designations expand government power.

  • The “war on terror” has come home

    • The episode’s central warning is that tools once used abroad or against marginalized communities are now being deployed domestically against protesters and dissidents.
    • In this framing, the current moment is not a break from the post-9/11 era, but its consequence.

Notable Quote

“The war on terror has come home. And it always was.”

Main People Featured

  • B.A. Parker and Jean Demby — Code Switch hosts
  • Sahar Salad — researcher at the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, discussing the impact of terrorism policy on Muslims in the U.S.
  • Alex Lubin — historian and author of Never Ending War on Terror, discussing the long history of the term “terrorism” in U.S. politics and state power