9/11 changed the lives of those who lost loved ones in the attacks on the United States, as well as those who lost their lives in the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The former president’s suggestions that the United States is at war with Muslims, that Muslims should be banned from entering the United States, and that Muslim residents should be placed under surveillance all have roots in the post-9/11 portrayal of the Middle East. The United States’ sudden distaste for war presents a second conundrum: If military force is rejected, and Russia and China’s veto power at the United Nations Security Council continues to render diplomatic efforts useless, how can the international community stop dictators from killing and persecuting their own people?