Experts in the News | Miller Center

Miller Center webinar panelists analyze the impacts of 9/11 — 20 years later

Bill Antholis, director and CEO of the Miller Center, began the webinar by noting that the discussion was “hyper-relevant” due to recent events in Afghanistan, referring to President Joe Biden’s decision on Aug. 31 to withdraw U.S. troops from the country after a 20-year long war. “Over the next two days we will explore how September 11 changed us as a people, we will look at how it changed our laws and institutions, how it changed our policies — domestic and foreign — and how it changed how the world views us,” Antholis said.

William Antholis

Miller Center webinar panelists analyze the impacts of 9/11 — 20 years later

Marc Selverstone, associate professor of presidential studies and chair of the Miller Center’s Presidential Recordings Program, then led a Q&A session with Zelikow, asking how the U.S. military should continue to act in foreign countries.

Marc Selverstone

Miller Center webinar panelists analyze the impacts of 9/11 — 20 years later

Antholis introduced History Prof. Philip Zelikow as the keynote speaker. Zelikow formerly worked in the federal government under five administrations and directed the Miller Center from 1998 to 2005. Zelikow began by talking about his experience after 9/11, having visited the towers’ remains soon after the attacks. “I can remember going to ground zero shortly after the attacks, and noticing that awful pungent smell of the place, as if the terrorists had opened up some special sulfurous path,” Zelikow said.

Philip Zelikow

Why Marvel's 'Shang-Chi' may not be released in China and what it means for Hollywood's future

Aynne Kokas, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia and the author of the book "Hollywood Made in China," told Insider that the "Shang-Chi" controversy is happening "in parallel with widespread tightening" of China media and its film market.

Aynne Kokas

How Hollywood Sold Out to China

According to analysts, studios are in a lose-lose position. Aynne Kokas, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and the author of Hollywood Made in China, explains that if Hollywood were to acknowledge self-censorship, the media blowback in the West would be significant, and China’s risk-averse government might blacklist Hollywood films to minimize attention.

Aynne Kokas

9/11: Twenty years later (Day 2)

On the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the 2021 Ambassador William C. Battle Symposium explores its impact on the United States at home and in the world. Drawing on expertise from scholars, practitioners, and journalists, this conference examines the history of this era with an eye toward its implications for the future.

J. Stephen Morrison