On September 10, 2001, citizens of the United States went about their daily activities without thinking about a terrorist attack. Americans who have been lulled into this mindset by the false pretenses of security and the history that America has never experienced a multi-faceted terrorist attack on its soil. However, on the morning of September 11, 2001, this attitude would continually change and change the lives of all Americans. The United States has become known as the melting pot of culture due to the diversity of its citizens; therefore, it has also led to terrorist acts committed by individuals and factions to share their ideologies and attempt to bring about social change. This social change may influence an infinitesimal number of people or it may have a global impact affecting the world in one way or another. Domestic and international terrorism are two factors that have shaped and continue to shape life in the United States. National events tend to have a more direct impact on American politics and the livelihoods of its citizens; while international terrorism can have consequences that the American people do not directly understand. DiscussionAccording to a study published in 2011 by the Heritage Foundation, between 2001 and 2009, there were 471 terrorist attacks against the United States, of which only 91 were considered local (Muhlhausen & McNeil, 2011). Some of the most memorable attacks on the United States to occur domestically in recent years include: the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, the 1999 Columbine shootings, the events of September 11, 2012, the Sandy Hook shootings, the 2012 Aurora Colorado shootings, and the Boston City Ma...... middle of paper ......rm Intelligence after 9/11. Public Administration Review, 700-706. Kurtulus, E.N. (2011). The “new terrorism” and its critics. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 476-500. Poulin, MJ, Silver, RC, Gil-Rivas, V., Holman, EA and McIntosh, DN (2009). Finding social benefits after collective trauma: perceiving societal changes and well-being after 9/11. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 81-90. Rothenburger, L. (2013). Terrorist groups: using the Internet and social media to spread ideas. Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, 7-23.Seirmarco, G., Neria, Y., Insel, B., Kiper, D., Doruk, A., Gross, R. and Litz, B. (2011) . Religiosity and mental health: changes in religious beliefs, complicated grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depression following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Psychology of religion and spirituality, 10-18.