AP®︎ US History: Topic 9.6 Flashcards

Al-Qaeda hijackers attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 and prompting the war on terror

Osama bin Laden’s international Islamist extremist organization, responsible for September 11 and other attacks on American targets

Leader of al-Qaeda, the organization responsible for September 11; killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011

Global American campaign against terrorism using military force, intelligence, law enforcement, financial controls, diplomacy, and domestic surveillance

Congressional authorization permitting the president to use force against those responsible for September 11 and anyone who aided them

President who declared the war on terror, invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and expanded federal security and surveillance powers

Policy favoring preemptive action against emerging threats, unilateral action when necessary, and promotion of democracy abroad

Islamist movement that governed Afghanistan, sheltered al-Qaeda, was overthrown in 2001, and regained control after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal

2001–2021 conflict that removed the Taliban government but failed to build a durable Afghan state, ending with the Taliban’s return

President who increased troops in Afghanistan, oversaw the killing of bin Laden, enacted recession recovery measures, and joined the Paris Agreement

Preventive war begun in 2003 over alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction; it toppled Saddam Hussein but produced insurgency and instability

Authoritarian Iraqi ruler overthrown and captured during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq

Iraqi prison where abuse by American personnel damaged U.S. credibility and intensified human-rights criticism of the Iraq War

Bush’s 2007 increase of U.S. troops and use of counterinsurgency tactics, followed by declining violence alongside changes in Iraqi politics and alliances

Extremist organization that captured territory amid Iraqi and Syrian instability, prompting renewed U.S. military operations beginning in 2014

Federal department created in 2002 to coordinate border control, emergency preparedness, transportation security, and infrastructure protection

2001 law expanding federal intelligence sharing, surveillance, records access, and investigative authority against suspected terrorism

Former intelligence contractor whose 2013 disclosures exposed extensive National Security Agency electronic data collection

U.S. facility in Cuba where suspected terrorists were detained, sometimes for years without ordinary civilian criminal trials

Coercive practices such as waterboarding whose use on terrorism suspects prompted charges of torture and violations of law

Supreme Court detainee rulings that required forms of due process or judicial review and limited executive wartime authority

Severe 2007–2009 downturn caused by the housing and financial collapse, producing bank failures, foreclosures, and 10 percent unemployment

Unsustainable rise in home prices fueled by risky borrowing; its collapse drove mortgage defaults and the financial crisis

Risky home loans issued to borrowers with weak credit or limited ability to repay, contributing to defaults and foreclosures

Investments created by bundling mortgages, spreading hidden housing-market risks throughout the financial system

September 2008 failure of a major investment bank that became the clearest symbol of the financial panic

Bush-era $700 billion program authorized to stabilize financial institutions during the 2008 crisis

Obama’s 2009 stimulus providing about $787 billion in tax cuts, government aid, infrastructure spending, and other recovery measures

2010 law increasing regulation and oversight of major financial institutions and creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Conservative movement opposing taxes, deficits, government spending, and federal intervention after the Great Recession

Left-wing protest movement targeting economic inequality and elite influence while contrasting the 99 percent with the 1 percent

Heavy reliance on oil, coal, and natural gas that connected American consumption to Middle Eastern strategy and environmental harm

Method that expanded domestic oil and natural-gas production but raised concerns about groundwater, methane, accidents, and local damage

Human-driven warming caused largely by greenhouse-gas emissions, producing rising seas, changing weather, and ecological risks

1997 international climate agreement that the United States signed but did not ratify

2015 international climate accord the United States joined under Obama, left under Trump, and rejoined under Biden

Growing alignment of partisan and cultural identities that made compromise costly and hindered consistent responses to national problems

Despite costly wars and economic challenges, the United States retained unmatched military reach, alliances, economic influence, and cultural power

Post–September 11 federal agency responsible for airport and passenger security screening