The Looming Narrative: The Enduring Battle Over 9/11

A new EdgeTheory narrative intelligence brief on how Russia, Iran, and other U.S. adversaries reframe 9/11 to attack American credibility today.

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, 9/11 remains an active part of the information environment — not just a historical anniversary. Russian-, Iranian-, and other adversary-aligned voices continue to reinterpret the attacks and the subsequent War on Terror to advance narratives about U.S. interventionism, hypocrisy, intelligence failures, and declining global power. These narratives connect the legacy of 9/11 to today's headlines: Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, terrorism designations, sanctions, and ongoing U.S. military activity.

EdgeTheory's latest narrative intelligence brief breaks down how adversaries are talking about 9/11 in 2026, the key themes shaping that messaging, and what it means for narrative intelligence and open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts tracking how historical events get repurposed for contemporary influence operations.

What You'll Learn

• How the War on Terror is recast as a pretext for militarism — how Russian- and Iranian-aligned voices connect 9/11 to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Iran to argue Washington used counterterrorism to justify military expansion and regime change.
• How adversaries erode U.S. credibility on counterterrorism — the "hypocrisy" narrative that contrasts the post-9/11 campaign against al-Qaeda with current U.S. relationships and terrorism designations, including real examples with engagement data.
• Why 9/11 conspiracy narratives persist 25 years later — how claims questioning the official 9/11 account are still used to seed broader distrust in U.S. intelligence assessments and institutions.
• How different adversaries use 9/11 differently — the distinct approaches taken by Russian, Iranian, Chinese, and North Korean messaging, from claims of American decline to justifying nuclear deterrence.
• What this means for narrative intelligence and OSINT — why analysts need to track how historical narratives migrate across actors, platforms, and conflicts, including how this connects to HPSCI's 25-year review of U.S. intelligence capabilities.

Twenty-five years later, 9/11 illustrates why historical narratives should be treated as persistent indicators within the information environment — not isolated reactions to an anniversary. As adversaries continue to repackage existing grievances around current events, understanding how these narratives are built, migrate, and resurface is essential to staying ahead of the next reframing of American legitimacy.

Download the report