There is no doubt that our country is facing its greatest challenge, that of restoring the sense of security and rebuilding the morale of our people, while simultaneously waging a war of unknown dimensions against terrorism . After watching videotapes and carefully listening to news reports and commentary describing the September 11 attacks and their aftermath, I realize that there is a great deal of information to consider before we can make any intelligent assessment of the current position of our country. To help make this task a little less intimidating, this essay will limit the discussion to America's position immediately after the attacks and its current relationship with foreign nations. Ultimately, I hope to have a better understanding of where our nation stands today independently of and relative to the rest of the world. The attacks on America have led to tremendous upheaval in the United States and the rest of the world. Americans have changed both as a people and as a nation; regarding our economic stability, our feelings of vulnerability and our methods of defense, our nationalism and, most recently, our military place in the world. Our country has been in a state of transition since 9/11. We have gone from a preliminary state of chaos and recovery to one of war and retaliation. September 11, 2001 is a date that will be remembered. The initial shock resulting from the tragic events that occurred will forever be imprinted in the hearts and souls of all Americans. However, the best thing to do, according to President Bush, is to recover and move forward. Americans went back to work and markets reopened. The United States is trying more than ever to get its economy back on track. On September 13, Bush stated, "I have great confidence in the resilience of the economy. There's no question, this crash has hit our economy, but the markets will open up and people will go back to work. We'll show the world." of time, each day brought new evidence that the year-long deterioration of the economy had further intensified since 9/11 and that an economic recovery plan had been established. The Senate and House agreed that a package of tax cuts and spending increases is needed to put more money in the hands of consumers, spur more business investment and provide additional aid to people who have lost jobs.