Creating Refugees: Displacement Caused by the Post-9/11 Wars

The wars the U.S. government has fought since the attacks of September 11, 2001, have forced at least 37 million people — and perhaps as many as 59 million — to flee their homes. In a first-of-its-kind calculation, a recently released report for the Costs of War Project conservatively estimates that the eight most violent wars the U.S. military has launched or participated in since 2001 — in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen — have produced 8 million refugees and 29 million internally displaced people. The estimated 37 million displaced is more than those displaced by any war since at least the start of the twentieth century, except for World War II. The harm inflicted on the displaced, among other victims of the U.S. Post-9/11 Wars, is incalculable. This event will offer an opportunity to discuss the significance of these new findings for U.S. and global responses to the displaced, for efforts to repair the damage from nearly two decades of war, and for the future of war and U.S. foreign policy. Join us on Wednesday, September 30 for this webinar in a series exploring various costs and consequences of the post-9/11 wars. The seminars are part of the “20 Years of War” research series, a two-year collaboration with the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University to expand the ongoing Costs of War project. The “20 Years of War” research series explores the human, financial, environmental, social, and political costs of the post-9/11 wars and illustrates how the impacts of the wars will ripple into the future. All seminars in this series will take place virtually on the Pardee Center’s YouTube channel.