The attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, were intended to force the United States to overplay its hand and ignite larger support for an Al Qaeda whose identity and center have been unclear, said panelist Cornell history professor Barry Strauss, at a roundtable discussion in Uris Hall called "9/11 + 7," on the seventh anniversary of the attacks.
Strauss was joined by Cornell government professors Matthew Evangelista and Peter Katzenstein. The discussion, which was chaired by government professor Jonathan Kirshner, director of the Peace Studies Program, was part of the program's Brown Bag Luncheon Seminar series.