US overreacted to 9/11 attacks says terror expert and next vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, Louise Richardson

Professor Richardson said the UK is more resilient than the US when it comes to terror attacks

The twin towers of the World Trade Center billow smoke after hijacked airliners crashed into them on 11 September, 2001 (HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP/Getty Images)

The United States overreacted to the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, according to the incoming vice–chancellor of the University of Oxford.

The panic that ensued following the September 11 attacks played a part in the US launching the so-called War on Terror.

Louise Richardson, an expert in terrorism, said the US’ response was a symptom of the fact that such attacks are a “new experience” for the country.

Speaking at a higher education conference in London, the principal of the University of St Andrews went on to argue that the UK is more resilient when it comes to terrorist attacks, due to the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Political scientist Louise Richardson has said the US over-reacted over 9/11

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Exploring the psychological impact of terrorism, she went on to argue that random attacks have such an impact on the public because “if nobody is chosen, nobody is safe”, the Daily Mail reported.

Professor Richardson went on to tell the audience, according to The Times: “Central to any terrorism campaign should be a resilient population and, I have to say, the British population in the course of the Troubles and violence in Northern Ireland proved really quite resilient.

“Far more so than the United States. And the scale of the reaction - I would say over-reaction - in the United States to the 9/11 atrocity was reflective of the fact that it was such a new experience for the United States," she added.

An internationally respected scholar and author of the study 'What Terrorist Want: Understanding the Enemy Containing the Threat', Professor Richardson often advises policy makers on the topics of terrorism and security.

Professor Richardson will become Oxford’s first female vice-chancellor when she adopts the position in January, after she was put forward by a nominating committee led by Oxford’s chancellor, Lord Patten of Barnes.