Nearly Three Quarters Believe American Academia is Worse Equipped Today to Pursue Truth-Seeking and Unbiased Education; Two-Thirds Say Students Cannot Correctly Identify the Causes and Perpetrators of the 9/11 Attacks

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new survey conducted by the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001:

• Two-thirds (66%) of Middle East studies professors believe that scholarly academic work has generated cover for ideologies, groups, or regimes directly hostile to the United States.
• In addition, two-thirds (66%) of the professors asked do not believe that their students can correctly identify the causes or perpetrators of the attacks.
• As the survey shows, these responses are part of a larger decline in academic standards and practices, leading to increased ideological biases and diminishing adherence to free and unfettered research. An overwhelming majority of respondents, 71 percent, said that American academia is worse equipped today than it was 25 years ago to pursue truth-seeking as its central mission. This response holds across all fields, ranks, institution types or career lengths.

"We've long read reports in the press alerting us to various biases in American academia," said Asaf Romirowsky, PhD, ASMEA's Executive Director. "Our most recent survey proves that the concerns aren't merely anecdotal, and that we're facing a pandemic of ideological bias preventing our institutions of higher education from pursuing their stated goals. In the 25 years since 9/11, we desperately needed scholars to help us make sense of the Middle East and guide us towards policies that best serve America's interests and national security concerns. Instead, we were met with zealotry that discarded facts and observable reality in favor of anti-American sentiments and commitments. That's a real tragedy."

And the bias, the survey suggests, grows more pronounced with time: Younger academics who have obtained their positions in the past decade or so were far more likely to report self-censorship to fit in with required departmental dogmas.

"It hardly takes a tenured professor to know that requiring all faculty members to hold the exact same views or else risk termination is a terrible way to guarantee academic freedom," Romirowsky said. "If 9/11 taught us anything, it's that we can't afford to risk any illusions about the world around us. And, for the last 25 years, we've been blindsided by scholars more interested in pushing their dangerous ideas than in observing the world as it truly is. If we want to make sure we're never again caught unaware as we were that terrible day a quarter of a century ago, there can be no more pressing priority than addressing our survey's findings and making American universities committed to truth again."

This survey was conducted from August 6-28, with 470 respondents. To read more of the report, click here.

About the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA):

The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) is a non-profit organization of scholars to promote the highest standards of academic research and teaching in the fields of Middle Eastern and African studies and related disciplines through programs, publications, and services that support its members, the international community of scholars, and interested members of the public. To learn more, visit www.asmeascholars.org.

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SOURCE Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA)