I remember when 9/11 happened and thinking to myself the world would never be same and that history books in the future would see that moment as the catalyst of what's to come, much like the assassination of the Arch Duke was the catalyst for WW1.
The Americans should have seen that they're at a crossroads in history right now with one path leading to the collapse of the USA and one path leading to there continued existence. I think that the problem lies in the growing gap between rich and poor in the world, and the fact that the USA is often seen as the pinacle of this western world. The Americans horrible foreign policy doesn't help this fact either. At some point for people in poor countries desperation kicks in the need to lash becomes overpowering, I mean they often have nothing to lose. To be honest, the similiarities between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the USA's postion right now is startling, from it's position as the only superpower, it's wealth, attitude and lack of morals.
The scary thing now though is that if the USA collapses it has the power to take the rest of the world down with it, and that scares the hell outta me (unless I'm already dead in which case I don't give a rat's ass). But this could turn into a huge post so I'll stop there.
WOW, look at me... those 2 years of university weren't a waste!