In most decades, there are dramatic events that interrupt the course of history and the last twenty years have seen at least three obvious examples of this.  However, more often than not, it is the reaction, in public attitudes and policy, rather than the event itself, that shapes the path taken by society in its aftermath. The horror of 9/11 laid the groundwork for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The global financial crisis led to an era of much tighter oversight of financial institutions that, in turn, curtailed lending, contributing to the slowest economic recovery in modern U.S. history.