{"id":18492,"date":"2026-09-11T11:57:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T23:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18492"},"modified":"2026-09-11T11:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T23:58:13","slug":"how-the-9-11-attacks-changed-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18492","title":{"rendered":"How the 9\/11 attacks changed New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Explainer<\/em>\u00a0– New Zealand woke up on 12 September 2001 to a world order that had abruptly changed overnight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While most of the country slept, terrorist attacks in New York City and elsewhere in America\u00a0left nearly 3000 people dead<\/a>\u00a0and led to decades of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This week marks 25 years since the 9\/11 attacks,\u00a0which changed air travel forever<\/a>, but also led to major reassessments of New Zealand’s place in the world and how we work with other nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I think New Zealand politics and foreign policy became less complacent after 9\/11,” said Grant Morris, a historian and associate professor of law at Victoria University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“The attacks proved that no nation was safe from large-scale terrorist attacks. If NYC could be attacked this way, then every city and nation is potentially vulnerable.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"NEW<\/div>
People run away as the North Tower of World Trade Center collapses after a hijacked airliner hit the building September 11, 2001 in New York City.<\/p>\n

JOSE JIMENEZ\/PRIMERA HORA \/ AFP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How it changed our foreign policy<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The events of 9\/11 led to what would become\u00a0New Zealand’s longest overseas military deployment<\/a>\u00a0as it joined the US-led action in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Beginning in December 2001, the Labour-led government agreed to send NZ Special Air Service (NZSAS) troops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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