Flashbulb Memories in a Post-9/11 World
I was a freshly minted four-year-old on the morning of September 11, 2001. There’s not much I remember about that day, except a flash — I’m in my elderly neighbors’ kitchen in…
Associate Editor
Laila Ujayli
Associate Editor
Laila Ujayli is passionate about the intersection of narrative and policy, concentrating on using stories to reorient US foreign policy towards human needs. She currently studies public policy as a graduate student at the Blavatnik School of Government, where she is a Rhodes Scholar. As a former Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow at Win Without War, she worked on reimagining US security spending to invest in the tools necessary to confront today and tomorrow's major challenges. She is especially interested in the use of film to engage the public on global issues and holds a Master of Studies in Film Aesthetics from the University of Oxford.
How 9/11 Convinced Me That I Had No Future in the Navy
On 9/11, I was a 23-year-old non-commissioned officer in the Navy and a few months away from getting discharged. My tour was almost over. I was stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana in…
Transcending a Readiness Frame for LGBTQ Rights in the Military
On the morning of Sept. 20, 2011, Lt. Col. Brenda Cartier exited the Metro and joined the steady flow of uniformed military officers and civilians in suits passing through security at the…
Arab Americans Are Here to Stay
My family once watched the fireworks every Fourth of July. We lived in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, and drove every year to watch the fireworks display in the park behind the local high…
Performing Whiteness After 9/11
Last week, I suddenly realized that I would be flying back to New York City on 9/11. I paused to unpack the fleeting panic that filled me. Why was I so afraid? Was it because if I spoke…
When 9/11 Got Hip-Hop, It Killed Dissent
I was an enlisted Airman studying Korean at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California on September 11, 2001. When the first two planes struck, none of us had any idea…
Feeling Fear Where My Parents Sought Refuge
Ever since I was old enough to talk, I was intensely aware of the impact of US foreign policy on my life. My family and I came to the United States as political asylees in late spring of…
The Boy in Fifth Period
In September 2001, I was a sophomore in high school. It wasn’t until almost noon that I learned what had happened. A classmate ran in, shouting to turn on the radio because someone had…
The Trouble with Offensive Cybersecurity
In a job interview last week, I was asked why I thought the future of cybersecurity should be defensive rather than offensive in nature. Having published an academic paper on the subject, I…
On Afghanistan, Biden Must Listen to Pro-Peace Feminists
In a televised interview, President Biden addressed the challenge of protecting women’s rights in Afghanistan, which has become one of the longest-standing justifications for continued US…