In the Towers' Shadow
On Charlie Kirk's murder: How we went from 9/11 to the politics of violence.
Another week of Virgo birthdays! Happy birthday Annie, Alexander, Claire, Matthew, Shaifali, and Angela. I don’t think I forgot anyone….
Congrats to Cynthia Miller-Idriss. Her book, Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism comes out on Sept 16. We’ve got copies to give away below.
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Between Israel’s strike on Qatar, a US ally, and Russian drones over Poland, a NATO member, Charlie Kirk should be the last thing any of us should be talking about.
White, male, and privileged, Charlie Kirk dropped out of college at 18 and, in 2012, started Turning Point USA, a right-wing movement anchored in white Evangelicalism. Republican donors threw money at him. Donald Trump gave him national prominence. On Wednesday, during a rally at Utah Valley, a gunman assassinated him.
His death is already being framed as another chapter in America’s deepening polarization. The right blames the “radical left”—even though we don’t know who the gunman and what his intentions were. Many in the MAGA world have vowed "vengeance." Pundits wasted no time in jumping down the political violence rabbit hole, declaring that “violence begets violence.” What they miss is that violence only begets violence in a weak or narrowing civil society and increasingly militarized and corrupt society.
Take Mexico. Bent on cracking down on drug cartels in 2006, President Felipe Calderón declared open “war”on cartels. It poured resources into law enforcement and the military. A decade later, hundreds of politicians have been killed. During the 2018 elections, more than 150 politicians were killed. In 2021, 102 were assassinated.
In Colombia, which has also grappled with drug cartels, violence has reared its ugly head again. This past June, a gunman shot Miguel Uribe Turbay, a candidate for the 2026 presidential elections. He died last month.
My friend Ayça Ariyoruk reminded me that in Turkey during the 1970s and 1980s, political bombings and murders—including that of investigative journalist Uğur Mumcu—became routine. She notes that these murders happen, “when people take matters into their own hands,” because there is a “loss of trust in leaders and the rule of law.”
Americans often imagine political violence as something that happens “out there.” But the same erosion of trust, the same exaltation of force over law, has taken root here.
Yesterday, we marked the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Its aftermath ushered the “war on terror” and an entrenched culture of force over justice. That day, those attacks, opened the door to a heavy handed response—and started to close the one on civil liberties. We cheered the invasion into Afghanistan and then Iraq. We applauded the “Patriot” Act, increasing surveillance and whatever was happening in Guantanamo, to whatever brown people the military rounded up. Our national security—”homeland security”—depended on it.
Meanwhile, Americans lost trillions to senseless wars in Afghanistan, where the same Taliban we set out to topple is back in power, and in Iraq. We expanded law enforcement powers and enabled mass data collection, while eroding privacy protections and judicial oversight. This disproportionately affected those who the law had already failed to fully protect—Black and brown people, namely immigrants, largely Muslim.
That is the environment Charlie Kirk grew up in. He was 8 when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. He was a fierce advocate of gun rights, noting in 2023, “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
He had equally abhorrent views on race, noting that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was, as the NYT writes, “a destructive force in American politics, calling its passage a ‘mistake’ that he said has been turned into ‘an anti-white weapon.’”
As we throw out platitudes about how we may “agree to disagree,” declare that “violence has no place in our society,” and call for tolerance, and let’s take a moment and realize that we’re not going to “understand” or dialogue our way out of this spiral. Ana Marie Cox put it best, “when it comes to Kirk’s death, empathy helps prop up Republicans and Trumpists as legitimate and normal political actors.”
Ezra Klein penned a piece entitled “Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way,”
Kirk did not practice politics the right way. He stoked polarization. My friend Shaifali noted that “Charlie Kirk was a victim of a reality he worked tirelessly to create.” That is a tragedy. No one deserves to be shot and killed, including Charlie Kirk. His murder is not an aberration—it is the result of the seeds we planted nearly a quarter of a century ago. We’ve normalized the idea of force and government overreach as a solution. It’s not just democracy that has become compromised, it is civil space and stability itself. —Elmira
📚 Interrupt Your Bookshelf! 📚
Cynthia Miller-Idriss’s new book, Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism couldn’t be better timed. She writes about the current explosion of misogyny is driving a surge of mass and far-right violence throughout the West. Enter the drawing to win a copy. Submissions close on Monday, September 15, 9:00am ET. And if you don’t win a copy, get it on Tertulia! A woman-run alternative to Amazon. Let’s support women.
Elsewhere in the World.....
On our radar...
Israel Bombs Qatar
At the same time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was telling residents in Gaza City to “get out of there,” his defense forces were preparing to strike Hamas targets in Qatar. While not a signatory to the Abraham Accords, Qatar has been key in hosting peace talks between Israel and Hamas—at Washington’s urging. The Gulf country has long been a destination for Hamas leaders. And that’s Netanyahu’s defense for the September 9 attack. Six people died.
Did Washington know? Seems so, as Nomia Iqbal reports. Yet, other than issuing a stern rebuke to Netanyahu, the US did not stop the attack. Was that because it didn’t have time or didn’t want to? (BBC)
“The Israeli government is prioritizing Hamas’ total defeat over a ceasefire agreement,” write Mona Yacoubian and Will Todman. That’s at a moment when Trump has made a renewed push for a ceasefire. They point out that this attack undermines Washington’s credibility, which I’ll editorialize is something the White House does perfectly well on its own. Still, this is, as they note, “unprecedented” and marks a huge escalation in tensions. (CSIS)
The strike on Qatar is a strike on the idea that any Arab capital is safe, writes Soumaya Ghannoushi. Instead of trying to engage with Israel, Arab states must stand up and stand against it. (Middle East Eye)
Falling PMs….
Another one bites the dust in France. Francois Bayrou, France’s former prime minister, lost a vote of confidence in the French parliament this week, after lawmakers rejected his budget proposal that would have hiked taxes and cut two public holidays. He is the third PM to get ousted in the past 12 months. But if you think that has rattled Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, Célia Belin and Constance Victor tell us that the country’s international standing gives him confidence. (ECFR)
Macron has named Sébastien Lecornu as the new PM.
Meanwhile in Japan…. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned, serving less than a year. He is the third prime minister in the last five years. Yvette Tan notes that the “country’s future leader faces a daunting task—balancing fraught US-Japan relations, rising inflation and a cost of living crisis, and a government that has lost its majority in both houses of parliament.” (BBC)
Following youth-led protests in Nepal, which turned violent, the country’s prime minister resigned. Sarah Shamim explains why the military has temporarily stepped in and why it’s likely to cede power once a successor has been identified. (Al Jazeera)
US
In a speech at the Christian Museum on Monday, Trump dismissed domestic violence as a crime. That’s on brand, says Moira Donegan.(Guardian)
Listen: Senator Elissa Slotkin joined Tess Bridgeman and Ryan Goodman for a talk on the future of national security and foreign policy. (Just Security)
Africa
As the UN General Assembly gets underway, world leaders need to refocus on Sudan and build international support to end the war, writes Dame Rosalind Mardsen. (Chatham House)
After 14 years, nearly $5 billion spent, and 15,000 dead, Ethiopia’s Grand Dam opened this week. Privilege Musvanhiri on why it took so long and so many lives, and why Egypt is not happy. (DW)
Americas
Well, in Brazil, a court found former President Jair Bolsonaro guilty of attempting a coup and overturning the country’s election results in 2022. Julia Vargas Jones reports. (CNN)
In Argentina, Javier Milei’s party suffered a setback. The opposition Peronist party won in regional elections in Buenos Aires. Kate Andrews points to the president’s sister and corruption allegations as the culprit. (Washington Post)
Europe
On Tuesday, NATO forces shot down about a dozen Russian drones in Polish airspace. Poland’s prime minister called it a “large scale provocation.” Liana Fix and Erin Dumbacher say that it’s a potential dangerous escalation that could challenge NATO’s unity and defenses. (CFR)
Under the Radar
Listen: Power and Purpose - it’s a new podcast hosted by Amanda Sloat and Nathalie Tocci. They talk to prominent voices not just about the headlines, but how power, values and purpose intersect. In the first episode Sloat and Tocci talk to former EU High Representative Federica Mogherini on Trump and Iran. (Power and Purpose)
Opportunities
Book Club Alert! Lourdes Martin is the author behind the terrific Substack, Please Do Tell. She’s got a terrific book club called, “Parts Unread,” that we’ve attended before. Her next pick is Lynsey Addario’s It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War. Discussion will be on Thursday, October 23. Get on this!
Tech Policy Press is taking applications for its 2026 Press Fellowship Program. Apply by Oct 15.
College and grad students, apply for the Overseas Press Foundations Scholarship by Nov 15.
In NYC, Brooklyn! Councilwoman Shahana Hanif is hiring a Comms Director.
The Atlantic Council is hiring a Director, Forward Defense Initiative.
Editorial Team
Elmira Bayrasli - Editor-in-Chief
"[V]iolence only begets violence in a weak or narrowing civil society..." Such a smart thought.