Beyond the Towers

In the weeks following 9/11, the United States leads an invasion of Afghanistan. Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden cross the border to Pakistan.

The United States regards the 9/11 attacks as justification for trying to remake the Middle East, but chaos and the slaughter of civilians replaces the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, and the war is a fiasco.

In 2014, Islamic extremists parading black flags sweep across northern Syria and Iraq, decimating the Iraqi Army before declaring a caliphate across a vast area.

In response to 9/11, the US-led invasion of Iraq strengthens Iran's influence across the Middle East and sharpens its rivalry with Saudi Arabia throughout a long and bloody proxy war in Yemen.