Podcasts about Combating Terrorism Center

This week Chris and Jason read and discussed a paper Chris wrote for a strategic studies project about neo-Nazi terror networks and their links to far-right militias in Ukraine. The influx of foreign fighters to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of 2022 has outpaced US intel and law enforcement agencies' ability to monitor potential radicals going to and coming from Ukraine. Far-right extremists have been drawn to the conflict in Ukraine since 2014 due to affiliated organizations that belong to a web of loosely related violent neo-fascist organizations. Several affiliated extremists have been apprehended planning terror attacks and other acts of violence. Amos, Howard, and Harriet Salem. 2014. “Ukraine Clashes: Dozens Dead after Odessa Building Fire.” The Guardian. May 2, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/02/ukraine-dead-odessa-building-fire.“Atomwaffen Division (AWD)/ National Socialist Order (NSO) | ADL.” 2020. Www.adl.org. April 29, 2020. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/atomwaffen-division-awd-national-socialist-order-nso.Belew, Kathleen. 2018. Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.Department of Homeland Security: US Customs and Border Protection. 2022. “Intelligence Note: United States Citizens Joining the Fight for Ukraine.”Department of Justice: Office of Public Affairs. 2023. “Office of Public Affairs | Proud Boys Leader Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice.” Www.justice.gov. September 5, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-22-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related.Goldman, Adam. 2020. “Man Suspected of Planning Attack on Missouri Hospital Is Killed, Officials Say.” The New York Times, March 25, 2020, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/coronavirus-fbi-shooting.html.“James Mason.” 2019. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2019. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/james-mason.Johnston, David Cay. 2002. “William Pierce, 69, Neo-Nazi Leader, Dies.” The New York Times, July 24, 2002, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/us/william-pierce-69-neo-nazi-leader-dies.html.Kacper, Rekawek. 2022. Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: The Brown–Red Cocktail. New York: Routledge.Kheel, Rebecca. 2018. “Congress Bans Arms to Ukraine Militia Linked to Neo-Nazis.” The Hill. March 27, 2018. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/380483-congress-bans-arms-to-controversial-ukrainian-militia-linked-to-neo-nazis/.Kriner, Matthew, and Jon Lewis. 2021. “Pride & Prejudice: The Violent Evolution of the Proud Boys.” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. July 9, 2021. https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pride-prejudice-the-violent-evolution-of-the-proud-boys/.Loisy, Par Florian, and Gwenael Bourdon et Jean-Michel Décugis Le 8 février 2022 à 06h15. 2022. “Enquête Sur Marc de Cacqueray-Valmenier, Le Sulfureux Chef Présumé des Zouaves Paris.” Leparisien.fr. February 8, 2022. https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/ultra-droite-qui-est-marc-de-cacqueray-valmenier-chef-presume-des-zouaves-paris-08-02-2022-TBCYP3EIPBA67GY2R7BR3ICAOE.php.Makuch, Ben. 2023. “Wanted for Murder, an Army Vet Escaped to Ukraine — and Fought the Russians.” The Intercept. July 19, 2023. https://theintercept.com/2023/07/19/ukraine-war-american-foreign-fighter/.Marone, Francesco. 2021. “Far-Right Extremism and Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy: A Case from Italy.” ISPI. October 21, 2021. https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/far-riSend us a textSupport the show

Unmanned aerial vehicles - better known as drones - are transforming modern warfare. As the technology becomes more accessible to the general public, it also becomes easier for bad actors to exploit. From surveillance and reconnaissance to weaponised drone attacks, extremist groups are increasingly using this technology to enhance their operational capabilities.In this episode of the Tech Against Terrorism podcast, host Lucas Webber speaks to Don Rassler, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy at West Point. Together, they discuss how drones are being leveraged by terrorist organisations, the evolving threat landscape, and the countermeasures being developed to mitigate these risks.The views expressed by the guest in this podcast are his and do not necessarily reflect those of the Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.

In this episode of the NEGOTIATEx podcast, we delve into the expansive career of Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Bryan Price. A West Point graduate and founder of Top Mental Game, LLC, Price's career spans from piloting Apache helicopters to leading the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, where he also taught and published work on counterterrorism. He now leverages his military and academic expertise to enhance leadership across various sectors, emphasizing adaptability and effective communication. His insights address the complexities of transitioning from military to civilian roles, the power of storytelling in leadership, and the universal need for mental resilience across diverse leadership landscapes.

Bill is joined by friend of the show Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss Edmund's recent report for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, Commentary: The Global Jihadi Terror Threat in September 2024.

Is terrorism becoming a more prevalent threat in Western societies, or are we getting better at identifying potential terrorists and extremists? How are terrorist and extremist groups taking advantage of a new, more connected world to further their objectives? Has there been a shift towards embracing the role of women in both terrorist organisations and the intelligence community? In this episode, Bruce Hoffman, Amira Jadoon, and Aaron Zelin join Bianca Birdsall to discuss international terrorist incidents, the looming threat of domestic extremism, and the shifting counterterrorism landscape – from gender roles to technology advancements. Professor Bruce Hoffman is a tenured professor in Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and is currently the Shelby Collum and Katherine W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr Amira Jadoon is an Assistant Professor in the department of Political Science at Clemson University, previously working at the U.S. Military Academy, jointly appointed in the department of Social Sciences and the Combating Terrorism Center. Dr Aaron Zelin is the Gloria and Ken Levy Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he also directs the Islamic State Worldwide Activity Map project. Bianca Birdsall is a Senior Advisor at the ANU National Security College.Show notes: ANU National Security College academic programs: find out more God, Guns, and Sedition by Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware Your Sons are at your service by Aaron Zelin The Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Strategic Alliances and Rivalries by Amira Jadoon with Andrew Mines We'd love to hear from you! Send in your questions, comments, and suggestions to NatSecPod@anu.edu.au. You can tweet us @NSC_ANU and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes. The National Security Podcast is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark recently moved to Kyiv and co-founded the Ukraine Business Network (UBN), a platform that provides research to industry leaders. The goal is to aid foreign investors operating in the country and ultimately contribute to the nation's reconstruction. Through panels, reports, and surveys, UBN gives businesses insight into their opportunities in Ukraine during times of war. It works with 4,000+ companies across sectors, including the World Bank Group, UN, Coca-Cola, Radisson, McDonald's, and the Wall Street Journal. An expert analyst on Ukraine and CIS countries, Mark has spent 15 years tracking the region's political, economic, social, and intelligence activities. He has also instructed at the U.S. Army's Combating Terrorism Center, teaching counterterrorism courses to CIA and FBI agents. He was previously the Managing Director of FrontierView (Europe), an advisory firm valued at $18M that gives 300+ multinationals market intelligence to help their businesses grow. He has been featured on Bloomberg, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and the BBC. On the podcast, Mark discusses How do you start a company in a war zone without income or local knowledge? Identifying the right critical skills and market niches for business success in Ukraine. Challenges of workforce development in Ukraine and how to effectively deal with them. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcnamee-58950910/ https://ubn.news/ubn-network/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Commonwealth-of-Independent-States https://ctc.westpoint.edu/ https://frontierview.com/ https://updatefromkyiv.podbean.com/e/137-analysis-mark-mcnamee-on-ukraine-s-economic-opportunities-and-challenges/ https://www.potomac-group.com/podcast/episode-12-mark-mcnamee-on-the-ongoing-russian-war-on-ukraine Summary Introduction to Mark and UBN Network @ 0:00 Mark introduced himself as the co-founder and owner of UBN (Ukraine Business News) Network, a company he started with his co-founder Andrew to help Western companies navigate the investment environment and understand the economic and geopolitical situation in Ukraine. Mark discussed his personal and academic background that led him to focus on this region, and his decision to move to Kyiv last October to be part of Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction efforts. The Significance of Ukraine's Conflict @ 3:00 Michael and Mark discussed the importance of recognizing that the conflict in Ukraine is not just about the current war, but is part of a larger geopolitical struggle between Western democratic values and the "might makes right" mentality of Russia and other non-Western powers. They emphasized that Ukraine's fight is not just for its own sovereignty, but for upholding the international order and rules-based systems that the West believes are better for humanity. The Human Toll and Resilience of Ukrainians @ 8:26 The conversation explored the immense human suffering and trauma experienced by Ukrainians due to the war, including the stories of families being separated, people fleeing their homes, and the psychological impact on the nation. However, they also highlighted the resilience and determination of the Ukrainian people to carry on with their daily lives and livelihoods despite the ongoing challenges. Opportunities for Rebuilding and Recovery @ 19:44 Mark and Michael discussed the importance of the work that UBN Network is doing to help facilitate Ukraine's economic recovery and reconstruction, even as the war continues. They emphasized the need for the West to continue supporting Ukraine and providing resources to help the country rebuild, with the goal of eventually transitioning from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Closing and Call to Action @ 21:11 In closing, Michael thanked Mark for his work and encouraged listeners to connect with Mark and UBN Network to learn more about the situation in Ukraine and how they can get involved in supporting the country's recovery efforts.  

Qasim Soleimani was arguably Iran's most important military leader in modern history. He moved Iran's overall strategy from a direct approach to an indirect one of proxy warfare using non-state actors. Born in 1957, General Soleimani rose from a humble background to become a key commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His experience of the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–88 gave him a desire to avoid another high-casualty conflict. Instead, he developed a proxy war approach that was much less costly to Iran, using Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and later Hamas to put pressure on Israel and the US. Soleimani was killed in a targeted strike by US forces in January 2020, which made him a martyr in Iran. Dr Afshon Ostovar, Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School, joins Beatrice and Paul for this episode. A graduate of the Universities of Arizona and Michigan, he was a Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, worked for the US Department of Defense, and taught at Johns Hopkins University. His book on the Revolutionary Guards examines the rise of Iran's most powerful armed force and its role in regional conflicts and political violence.

The world is reeling from the savage terror attack that brutalized, raped, murdered and kidnapped Israelis and civilians from at least 25 other countries, continuing to hold many of them hostage – and from the ongoing war that followed. After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, some thought it would become more moderate. That was wishful thinking. The barbaric massacre of October 7, 2023 made it clear that Hamas is a terrorist group intent on destroying Israel and hoping to spark a regional – and even wider-war. We talk with Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, and author of Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale UP, 2008). This important book provides the most fully researched assessment of Hamas ever written. It draws aside the veil of legitimacy behind which Hamas hid, by presenting concrete, detailed evidence from an extensive array of international intelligence materials, including recently declassified CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security reports. Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas' military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another. Levitt exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology.and expands the book's insights and their implication for the future in “The War Hamas Always Wanted.” Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2023, and "The Road to Oct 7: Hamas' Long Game, Clarified" in CTC Sentinel (Combating Terrorism Center at West Point), Vol. 16, issue 10, Oct.-Nov. 2023. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at reneeg@vanleer.org.il. She's on Twitter @embracingwisdom. She blogs here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The world is reeling from the savage terror attack that brutalized, raped, murdered and kidnapped Israelis and civilians from at least 25 other countries, continuing to hold many of them hostage – and from the ongoing war that followed. After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, some thought it would become more moderate. That was wishful thinking. The barbaric massacre of October 7, 2023 made it clear that Hamas is a terrorist group intent on destroying Israel and hoping to spark a regional – and even wider-war. We talk with Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, and author of Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale UP, 2008). This important book provides the most fully researched assessment of Hamas ever written. It draws aside the veil of legitimacy behind which Hamas hid, by presenting concrete, detailed evidence from an extensive array of international intelligence materials, including recently declassified CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security reports. Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas' military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another. Levitt exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology.and expands the book's insights and their implication for the future in “The War Hamas Always Wanted.” Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2023, and "The Road to Oct 7: Hamas' Long Game, Clarified" in CTC Sentinel (Combating Terrorism Center at West Point), Vol. 16, issue 10, Oct.-Nov. 2023. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at reneeg@vanleer.org.il. She's on Twitter @embracingwisdom. She blogs here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/national-security

The world is reeling from the savage terror attack that brutalized, raped, murdered and kidnapped Israelis and civilians from at least 25 other countries, continuing to hold many of them hostage – and from the ongoing war that followed. After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, some thought it would become more moderate. That was wishful thinking. The barbaric massacre of October 7, 2023 made it clear that Hamas is a terrorist group intent on destroying Israel and hoping to spark a regional – and even wider-war. We talk with Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, and author of Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale UP, 2008). This important book provides the most fully researched assessment of Hamas ever written. It draws aside the veil of legitimacy behind which Hamas hid, by presenting concrete, detailed evidence from an extensive array of international intelligence materials, including recently declassified CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security reports. Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas' military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another. Levitt exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology.and expands the book's insights and their implication for the future in “The War Hamas Always Wanted.” Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2023, and "The Road to Oct 7: Hamas' Long Game, Clarified" in CTC Sentinel (Combating Terrorism Center at West Point), Vol. 16, issue 10, Oct.-Nov. 2023. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at reneeg@vanleer.org.il. She's on Twitter @embracingwisdom. She blogs here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/van-leer-institute

Be sure to visit the Irregular Warfare Initiative website to see all of the new articles, podcast episodes, and other content the IWI team is publishing! For nearly two months, three powerful dynamics have converged in Gaza: lawfare, a humanitarian crisis, and urban combat. This episode examines those subjects and explores how they play out and influence one another in Gaza. Our hosts are joined by retired General Joseph Votel, the distinguished chair of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and former commander of US Central Command, and Dr. Raphael Cohen, the director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE. They explore Hamas's hybrid strategy in Gaza and Israel's traditional counterterrorism approach in the Middle East, the importance of addressing lawfare and humanitarian considerations head on, and the challenges of operating in urban terrain and navigating geopolitical complexities that may require the United States and its allies to reconsider their global force structure. Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Today's guest is counterterrorism and intelligence expert, Matthew Levitt. Matthew is a Fromer-Wexler Fellow at The Washington Institute and the director of its Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He previously worked as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and as a counterterrorism intelligence analyst at the FBI. He has also held fellowships with the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and with the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a member of the international advisory board for both the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Israel and the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore. Matthew serves on the advisory board of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance and formerly served on the academic advisory board for the Emirati Center for Strategic Studies and Research. Matthew's writings on the Middle East, terrorism, illicit finance and sanctions have appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. He is the author of Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks, and Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. He is also the host of the BREAKING HEZBOLLAH'S GOLDEN RULE podcast. You can follow him on X @Levitt_Matt SPONSORS: Navy Federal Credit Union: Today's episode is presented by Navy Federal Credit Union. Learn more about them at navyfederal.org Black Rifle Coffee Company: Today's episode is also brought to you by Black Rifle. Purchase at http://www.blackriflecoffee.com/dangerclose and use code: dangerclose20 at checkout for 20% off your purchase and your first coffee club order! Danger Close Apparel: Check out the new Danger Close apparel.

Kol Isha: WE ARE ONE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZZjZAkbXOo   Check Out Orthodox Connundrum: https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/politics/conundrum/ Intimate Judaism: https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/life/intimate-judaism/ Episode with Dr. Jessica Roda https://www.franciskakosman.com/podcast/episode/1d76e5e7/the-analysis-on-the-female-frum-arts-industry-with-dr-jessica-roda   Blue and White Unity Campaign: https://bluewhiteunity.com/   Would you like to be a SPONSOR? Would you like to join the Whatsapp Discussion Group? Reach out about new sponsorship opportunities for your brand & organizations - franciskakay@gmail.com Check out www.JewishCoffeeHouse.com for more Jewish Podcasts on our network.   About Our Guest: Bruce R. Hoffman (born 1954) is an American political analyst. He specializes in the study of terrorism, counter-terrorism, insurgency, and counter-insurgency. Hoffman serves as the Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security on the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a professor at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, where he directs its Center for Jewish Civilization.[1] In addition, he is the Professor Emeritus and Honorary Professor of Terrorism Studies at the University of St Andrews,[2] and is the George H. Gilmore Senior Fellow at the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center.[3] Hoffman began an interest in the study of international relations while an undergraduate at Connecticut College. He received his graduate education at the Oxford University, earning his doctorate in 1986. Hoffman has since held multiple professorships and appointments. In May 2022, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin appointed Hoffman as a commissioner on the Commonwealth of Virginia's Commission to Combat Antisemitism.[4] Author of "Inside Terrorism"  

Why do states engage in proxy warfare? How does what scholars call principal-agent theory explain the way proxy warfare actually plays out—particularly the challenges that arise when the interests of a principal and a proxy diverge? And as the US military continues to prepare for large-scale combat operations, how should the ability to leverage proxies factor into planning? This episode addresses these questions and more in wide-ranging discussing featuring three guests. Dr. Nakissa Jahanbani is an assistant professor in West Point's Department of Social Sciences and a researcher at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Dr. Vladimir Rauta is a lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of Reading and the editor of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars. And retired Lieutenant General Ken Tovo served for almost forty years in the Army, including as commanding general of US Army Special Operations Command. Note: This episode was originally recorded and released by the Social Science of War podcast, a coproduction between the Modern War Institute at West Point and West Point's Department of Social Sciences.

Franc Milburn is a former UK Defence Intelligence officer and Army Paratrooper with over 23 years of experience producing threat & risk assessments for clients operating in hostile environments from North Africa to ME, Iraq & LATAM. His experience includes providing strategic & operational assessments of prevailing business environments for extractive industries, as well as a variety of Fortune 500, aerospace & government clients. Franc is an alumnus of The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the London School of Economics. He has written peer-reviewed papers for a number globally ranked think tanks, including: the Middle East Economic Survey, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is an affiliated researcher with the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Illan University, and is a member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies. Franc Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrancMilburn BESA PAPERS: The Pentagon's UAP Taskforce: https://besacenter.org/wp-content/upl... American Development of UAP Technology: A Fait Accompli?: https://besacenter.org/wp-content/upl... !! SUPPORT DISCLOSURE TEAM !! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/disclosureteam Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/disclosu... Disclosure Team Merch: https://disclosureteam.bigcartel.com/ Disclosure Team Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/disclosure_... Disclosure Team Twitter: https://twitter.com/disclosureteam_ Disclosure Team is part of the Anomalous Podcast Network: https://audioboom.com/channels/5069292 Vinnie Adams is an abassador for UAP Society: https://uapsociety.com/

It's been just over a year since the Taliban seized control of Kabul and established themselves as the government of Afghanistan. What has changed in Afghanistan in that time and what is the status of the major factions in the country? CNA's Jonathan Schroden is joined by three experts on militant groups in Afghanistan, they discuss the status of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS-K in Afghanistan and the relationships between these groups. Jonathan Schroden is the director of CNA's Counter Threats and Challenges Program. Twitter: @JJSchroden Amira Jadoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Clemson University. Previously she worked at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Twitter: @amirajadoon Asfandyar Mir is a senior expert in the Asia Center at USIP. His research interests include the international relations of South Asia, U.S. counterterrorism policy and political violence — with a regional focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Twitter: @asfandyarmir Andrew Watkins is a senior expert on Afghanistan for the U.S. Institute of Peace. He joined after serving as the senior analyst on Afghanistan for the International Crisis Group, where he published in-depth reports and analytical commentary on the country's conflict and efforts to initiate a peaceful settlement. Twitter: @and_huh_what

On the first anniversary of the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan, program host Chris Meek speaks with Lyla Kohistany, an inclusion strategist and cultural intelligence advisor, on her thoughts about what the U.S. got right and what it got wrong about the withdrawal. Lyla began her career in 2001 as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer stationed in Japan. Born in Kabul and a refugee of the Soviet conflict, the attacks on 9/11 prompted her to transfer into the Intelligence community where she served as a Counterterrorism Analyst in Afghanistan working alongside U.S. and NATO Special Operations Forces (SOF). Upon separating from the military, she consulted for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and U.S. Operations Command (USSOCOM). Lyla is the co-founder and director of two national nonprofits: PROMOTE, which is focused on innovation through inclusion in national security, and Honor the Promise, which is focused on long-term refugee resilience in the U.S. Lyla will speak about her own experiences as a refugee, her family's difficulty integrating into society, the veteran community's deep desire to help support the Afghan veterans in the U.S. and actions they can take to support their Afghan security force partners. Additionally she will discuss how the veteran and military family communities can become more resilient in this particular moment of time and what can be done to help veterans overcome PTSD and trauma. Lyla has an uplifting perspective when it comes to resiliency and overcoming adversity - she is proof that it is possible.

On the first anniversary of the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan, program host Chris Meek speaks with Lyla Kohistany, an inclusion strategist and cultural intelligence advisor, on her thoughts about what the U.S. got right and what it got wrong about the withdrawal. Lyla began her career in 2001 as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer stationed in Japan. Born in Kabul and a refugee of the Soviet conflict, the attacks on 9/11 prompted her to transfer into the Intelligence community where she served as a Counterterrorism Analyst in Afghanistan working alongside U.S. and NATO Special Operations Forces (SOF). Upon separating from the military, she consulted for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and U.S. Operations Command (USSOCOM). Lyla is the co-founder and director of two national nonprofits: PROMOTE, which is focused on innovation through inclusion in national security, and Honor the Promise, which is focused on long-term refugee resilience in the U.S. Lyla will speak about her own experiences as a refugee, her family's difficulty integrating into society, the veteran community's deep desire to help support the Afghan veterans in the U.S. and actions they can take to support their Afghan security force partners. Additionally she will discuss how the veteran and military family communities can become more resilient in this particular moment of time and what can be done to help veterans overcome PTSD and trauma. Lyla has an uplifting perspective when it comes to resiliency and overcoming adversity - she is proof that it is possible.

How have European far-right extremists responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? How has the Russian government leveraged the Russian far right in service of its objectives in the war? And how should we understand the role of Ukraine's well-known Azov regiment? These questions all revolve around the complicated intersection of far-right politics, foreign fighter mobilization, and war. Exploring them requires a nuanced understanding of context that extends back much earlier than Russia's February invasion. On this episode, a joint production between MWI and the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, Kacper Rekawek joins to share insights based on years of research on the subject.

For this month's Sword and Pen podcast, MVJ is re-airing our Extremism in the Military Webinar that originally aired June 16. Join host Drew Lawrence as he addresses a very timely topic of domestic and foreign extremism with Andrew Mines, a research fellow for George Washington University's Program on Extremism, and Dr. Daniel Milton, director of research at the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy. Both researchers co-authored "This is War": Examining Military Experience Among the Capitol Hill Siege Participants." Questions by the webinar attendees and answers by the expert panel are included at the end of the show. Tune in to hear what the panel says about: Building credibility and trust when covering military extremism stories How to cover extremism in the military The lack of accountability and a federal statute regarding domestic terrorism The importance of collecting data on domestic terrorism Andrew Mines / Twitter @mines_andrew | Program on Extremism at George Washington University / Website Dr. Daniel Milton / Twitter @Dr_DMilton | CTC at West Point / Twitter @CTCWP Sword and Pen is brought to you by co-hosts Lori King and Drew Lawrence Twitter | Lori King @intro2pj / Drew Lawrence @df_lawrence Got an idea for a podcast? Shoot us an email at lorikingblog@gmail.com and/or drew@mvj.network

Correction: At 07:45 I incorrectly stated US Capitol Police deployed frag grenades on protesters, whereas the Capitol Police stun grenaded peaceful protester who then became agitated. "OMG" Does anyone remember "consider the source"? Asking Mary McCord about terrorism is the joke of the century.  The hack authors at CTC West Point failed at doing their homework.  Mary McCord reviewed and approved the fraudulent FISA application against Carter Page. (Retired Naval Intelligence officer Carter Page assisted the CIA--only to have Kevin Clinesmith throw him under the bus to get the treasonous Russia hoax going.) McCord went on to help Clinesmith free himself from the FISC judge Boasberg. When did we start allowing co-conspirators to represent fellow criminals? Hunch: when Washington DC decided it was its own self-contained Marxist State...  The bottom line is that America is a train wreck because of people like Mary McCord and idiots at CTC just handed Mary the microphone. Stop listening to these liars. LANGUAGE ALERT, THE CONTENT IN THIS EPISODE SHOULD HAVE YOU JUST AS UPSET AS I AM.  THE MARXISTS HAVE BEEN WINNING. https://ctc.westpoint.edu/a-view-from-the-ct-foxhole-mary-mccord-executive-director-institute-for-constitutional-advocacy-and-protection-georgetown-university-law-center/

Summary Daniel Milton (Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Tactical Interrogation Reports of the former Caliph of the Islamic State. Al-Mawla was killed in a U.S. raid in February 2022.  What You'll Learn Intelligence The ideological feud between Islamic State and Al Qaeda  Islamic State's retreat from a quasi-state centered to a shadowy insurgency Battlefield intelligence such as “exploitable material” and “interrogation reports” The role of the Combating Terrorism Center in analyzing this intelligence Reflections Training your people for the current fight…and the next one  The trade-off between a short-term view and a longer-term view And much, much more… Episode Notes This week's episode focuses on battlefield intelligence, or more specifically a series of tactical interrogation reports from 2008.  Ok, so why are they significant? Well, the individual being interrogated, Al Mawla, would go on to become the second leader and so-called Caliph of the Islamic State. Ok, so why are they significant beyond that…well, it turns out that Al Mawla was an informant who gave away colleagues and friends to save his own skin, leading to the nickname, “The Canary Caliph.” Daniel Milton joined Andrew to discuss these reports and what they mean in the broader scheme of things. Daniel is the Director of Research at the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, and he has a Ph.D. from FSU. He has been cited in outlets such as The NYT, BBC, and NBC News and he regularly briefs all levels of the Government, including the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. And… In February 2022, Al Mawla became the second Islamic State Caliph to blow himself up during a U.S. raid. His predecessor Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi had done so in October 2019. I wonder what will happen to the third Caliph… Quote of the Week "I think that's one of my favorite things about looking at this type of material is that it really gives an inside view to organizations that are clandestine and usually not seen very well from the outside, but these documents paint a very vivid picture of struggles, challenges, bureaucratic minutia, whatever the case might be, which is not typically how we think about these organizations, but these documents really allow us to see that." – Daniel Milton Resources *Headline Resources* Al Mawla Interrogation Reports CTC Sentinel  Books Enemies Near & Far, D. Gartenstein-Ross (CUP, 2022) The ISIS Reader, Ingram et al. (Hurst, 2020) The Rise of Global Jihad, T. Hegghammer (CUP, 2020) Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad, D. Byman (OUP, 2019) Anatomy of Terror, A. Soufan (W.W. Norton, 2017) The Far Enemy, F. Gerges (CUP, 2005) Best Books on the Middle East (Five Books) Articles ISIS Leader Quraishi Kills Himself, Al-Khalidi & Bose, Reuters (2022) ISIS'S Leadership Crisis, H. Ingram and C. Whiteside, Foreign Affairs (2022) The Islamic State in Afghanistan, A. Jadoon et al., CTC (2022) The Cloud Caliphate, Ayad et al., CTC (2021) Lessons from the Islamic State's “Milestone” Texts and Speeches, Ingram et al., CTC (2020) Timeline: The Rise, Spread & Fall of the Islamic State, C. Glenn et al., Wilson Center (2019) Documentary Iraq & Syria: After Islamic State, BBC (2018) Confronting ISIS, PBS Frontline (2016) Web Operation Inherent Resolve Primary Sources President Biden on a Successful Counterterrorism Operation (2022) Cyber Command's Internet War Against ISIL (2018) Islamic State Memo for Dealing with New Recruits (2017) Message to the Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah, Caliph Al Baghdadi (2014) Zawahiri's Letter to Zarqawi (2005) The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) Wildcard Resource “The America I Have Seen” An account of his time living in the U.S. by theorist of violent jihad Sayyid Qutb.

In this episode of the World of Intelligence podcast, we speak to Don Rassler, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The conversation in this episode is focused on the utility and application of OSINT in the counter-terrorism arena.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more 26 MINS  Glenn Kirschner is a former federal prosecutor with 30 years of trial experience.  He served in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia for 24 years, rising to the position of Chief of the Homicide Section.  In that capacity, Glenn supervised 30 homicide prosecutors and oversaw all homicide grand jury investigations and prosecutions in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the DC U.S. Attorney's Office, Glenn served more than six years on active duty as an Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) prosecutor, trying court-martial cases and handling criminal appeals, including espionage and death penalty cases. Glenn tried hundreds of cases in his 30 years as a prosecutor, including more than 50 murder trials, multiple lengthy RICO trials and precedent-setting cases.  Glenn's YouTube Channel Glenn's Podcast 48 mins Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint's tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia's information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint's writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI's Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. 1:09 Bill Boyle is a well sourced and connected businessman who lives in Washington DC with his wife and son. Bill is a trusted friend and source for me who I met after he listened and became a regular and highly respected caller of my siriusxm radio show. Bill is a voracious reader and listeners love to hear his take. I think his analysis is as sharp as anyone you will hear on radio or TV and he has well placed friends across the federal government who are always talking to him. As far as I can tell he is not in the CIA. Follow him on twitter and park at his garages.   Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe   Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page   Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe   Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page

It's when performing under pressure that true leadership is tested. We learn this from Bryan Price, Ph.D., founder of Top Mental Game LLC, a coaching service for business leaders and elite athletes. Before starting Top Mental Game, Bryan served for 20 years as a U.S. Army officer. He currently serves as a Director and Associate Professor at the Combating Terrorism Center. Joining Ben Baker on the show, Bryan tells us how leaders can stay on top of their mental game so they can perform at their best when it matters the most. He also shares insights on servant leadership, the imposter syndrome, leadership development, and more. Stay tuned and learn how one of the best minds is shaping the new generation of leaders!

This Week's Guests: Foreign Policy Expert - Clint Watts The World's Famous comedy Cellar presents "Live From America Podcast" with Noam Dworman and Hatem Gabr. The top experts and thinkers of the world and the best comics in the Nation get together weekly with our hosts to discuss different topics each week, News, Culture, Politics, comedy & and more with an equal parts of knowledge and comedy! About Clint Watts: Clint Watts is a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University and a Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow. He previously was an infantry officer in the United States Army, and was the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at United States Military Academy at West Point. He became a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He has consulted for the FBI Counterterrorism Division and FBI National Security Branch. Watts has given expert testimony to the U.S. Congress multiple times, including: to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on April 5, 2016, about the ISIS's November 2015 Paris attacks and the 2016 Brussels bombings, to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs about ISIS after the Orlando nightclub shooting, to the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections in a widely reported March 30, 2017 public hearing, and before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity on April 27, 2017 about Russian black propaganda. Follow Live From America YouTube www.youtube.com/channel/UCS2fqgw61yK1J6iKNxV0LmA Twitter twitter.com/AmericasPodcast www.LiveFromAmericaPodcast.com LiveFromAmerica@ComedyCellar.com Follow Hatem Twitter twitter.com/HatemNYC Instagram www.instagram.com/hatemnyc/ Follow Noam Twitter twitter.com/noamdworman?lang #UkraineUpdates #Putin #ClintWatts

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more 21:00 Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint's tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia's information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint's writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI's Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. -------------------------------- 50:00 Employing what he's labeled “hard funny,” Christopher Titus has released seven ninety-minute albums in as many years. He has six one-hour comedy specials currently running on Comedy Central, and his seventh special, Born With a Defect, spent four weeks on the Billboard Top Ten Comedy Chart.  After years of experimentation with dark and personal storytelling, he debuted his one-man show “Norman Rockwell is Bleeding” at the Hudson Theater in Los Angeles.  It was from this performance that the dark comedy, “Titus,” was born on Fox.  The show earned Titus a Writer's Guild nomination as well as an Emmy nomination, and Newsday called him “TV's most original voice since Seinfeld.”   His second show, “The Fifth Annual End of the World Tour,” was released in 2007 to rave reviews.  Titus tackled such difficult issues as the Iraq war, racism, pedophilia and even his father's unconventional and ridiculous funeral, where he, with his brother and sister's help, spread his father's ashes in a casino.  These are issues most comedians would run from, but Titus never walks into the familiar. “Love Is Evol,” Titus' third one-man show, deconstructs relationships in a way no comic has ever attempted.  Titus wades into domestic violence, plastic surgery, custody and all aspects of the nightmare relationships. This groundbreaking comedy special premiered on Comedy Central on Valentine's Day.  The album and dvd were released on February 15th, 2009.   Titus claims that “this show will either fix your relationship or destroy it, and either way, you're welcome.” “Neverlution,” aired on Comedy Central on July the 4th, 2010.  Titus takes no prisoners in this special, tackling the problems of our country, one joke at a time.  He quotes, “every joke is a tiny revolution.”  Titus declares that it's time to take our country back, namely from today's spoiled children, prescription medication, the media, technology and terrorism. Titus' fifth special, “Voice In My Head,” aired on Comedy Central in October 2013.  This lighthearted show details all of Titus' biggest screw-ups, including a hilarious story about his first job as Darth Vader for children's birthday parties.     “Angry Pursuit of Happiness,” which premiered on Comedy Central in 2015, is Titus at his best, and he leaves no stone unturned in his relentless pursuit for the true meaning of life.  Titus covers everything from the Pope, the Boston Bombing, to his Dad's awkward, yet hilarious ED problem.  In one of his most epic and darkly funny bits, Titus solves the nation's problems by “Arming the Children.” “Born With a Defect” was released in 2017, and held on the Billboard Top Ten Comedy Chart for four straight weeks.  Titus claim is, “If you have kids, this show is 90 minutes of therapy.  If you don't, it's 90 minutes of birth control.” Titus is currently performing his newest one-man show, “Amerigeddon,” to sold out theaters across the country. Titus shone in 2007 as the lovable character, Brody, in ABC's “Big Shots.”  He shared the screen with Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan and Joshua Molina as a successful CEO who had total control in business, and no control in his relationship. Inspired by such greats as Woody Allen, Steve Martin, and Cosby, who wrote, directed, produced and performed, Titus has sold ideas to NBC, ABC, FOX and Comedy Central.  In 2013, Titus formed his own production company, Combustion World Industries, and produced his two most recent comedy specials, “Voice In My Head” and “Angry Pursuit of Happiness.”  His first feature film production, “Special Unit,” wrapped in March of 2016, and is about four disabled detectives. Titus describes it as “The Shield with handicapped people” and is planning for release in January 2017.   After watching Christopher Titus perform live, there is no doubt that he is one of the best comics working today.  With the complete package of comedy, acting and writing, there hasn't been a performer like him in a long time.  Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page

On this episode, we dive deep into the history of several extremist militia movements in the United States. We also discuss Republicans' fake electors, Justice Breyer's retirement, and Tucker Carlson losing it over because M&M's aren't sexy enough. If you like our podcast, make sure to leave a 5-star review! Useful links from the episode:Tucker Carlson wants to have sex with candyNo outrage about the allegations of child slavery thoughU.S. Justice Dept. to investigate Republicans who sent fake Trump electors to Congress2 Wisconsin Republicans who acted as false electors receive subpoenas from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attackWI Legislature passes bill to lower concealed carry age to 18Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire after current term ends in JuneSpotify Is Removing Neil Young Songs After He Complains of ‘Misinformation'Joe Biden said a naughty no-no wordTasha Adams Twitter AccountFrom the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point report on the Oathkeepers and their role in the January 6th InsurrectionIt was revealed in late January 2021 that Tarrio has worked as an informant for federal and local law enforcement

For this edition of the Sosh Pod, Audrey Alexander moderates a discussion between Dr. Daniel Milton, Director of the USMA Combatting Terrorism Center (CTC), and Dr. Craig Whiteside, Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College. The three scholars discuss the recent project by the CTC to deconstruct the insurgent and terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in Iraq in Syria.    For more information on the CTC's report on Amir Muhamma Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, the current leader of the Islamic State, check out this link here: https://ctc.usma.edu/al-mawla-interrogation-reports/ .   Dr. Daniel Milton is the Director of Research at the Combating Terrorism Center and an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences   Dr. Craig Whiteside is an associate professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College as part of the resident program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He recently co-authored The ISIS Reader: Milestone Texts of Islamic State Movement.    Ms. Audrey Alexander is a researcher and instructor from the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point. She was a senior research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism prior to coming to West Point.   Learn more about the Combatting Terrorism Center at their website, http://www.ctc.usma.edu   The views expressed on this podcast belong to those of the speakers, and should not be seen as reflective of the official positions of the US Military Academy, the United States Army, the Department of Defense, or any government entity.

About Today's GuestBill Braniff is an Army veteran and Director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and a Professor of the Practice at the University of Maryland. He previously served as the director of practitioner education at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and an instructor in the Department of Social Sciences, as a foreign affairs specialist within the National Nuclear Security Administration, and as an Armor Officer in the United States Army. Bill is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Study. His father served in the New Jersey Army National Guard, and his maternal grandfather volunteered for U.S. Army service alongside his brothers during WWII.  Links Mentioned In This EpisodeWe the Veterans Web SiteBTM Episode 39: Veterans in Journalism with Zack BaddorfBTM Episode 46: Military and National Defense Journalism with Thomas BrennanPsychArmor Resource of the WeekThe PsychArmor Resource of the Week is the course, How to Connect With a Checked Out Veteran. This course provides information to help family and caregivers identify if a Veteran is checked out or emotionally disconnected. It explains how to rebuild an emotional connection, how to recognize and avoid common mistakes when engaging with checked out Veterans, and understand how to approach the Veteran. You can find a link to the course by going to this link: https://psycharmor.org/courses/connect-checked-veteran/ This Episode Sponsored By:This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.Join Us on Social Media PsychArmor on TwitterPsychArmor on FacebookPsychArmor on YouTubePsychArmor on LinkedInPsychArmor on InstagramTheme MusicOur theme music Don't Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families.  You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com  

The 24th Annual Pearl Harbor Day Lecture. About the lecture: The discussion will examine the current security environment, the growth of Chinese military capabilities, and efforts by the United States and its allies and partners to strengthen deterrence and compete more effectively below the threshold of armed conflict. About the speaker: General Joseph L. Votel is a retired U.S. Army Four Star officer and most recently the Commander of the U.S. Central Command – responsible for U.S. and coalition military operations in the Middle East, Levant and Central and South Asia. During his 39 years in the military, he commanded special operations and conventional military forces at every level. His career included combat in Panama,Afghanistan and Iraq. Notably, he led a 79-member coalition that successfully liberated Iraq and Syria from the Islamic State Caliphate. He preceded his assignment at CENTCOM with service as the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and the Joint Special Operations Command. Votel was recognized with the Distinguished Military Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council, the U.S. – Arab Defense Leadership Award from the National Council on U.S. – Arab Relations, the Patriot Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the SGT James T. Regan Lifetime Achievement Award from the “Lead the Way” Foundation and the Freedom Award from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. In January of 2020, General Votel became President & CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). He is a Strategic Advisor for Sierra Nevada Corporation as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for Noblis Corporation. Votel is a nonresident Distinguished Fellow at the Middle East Institute and the Belfer Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and advises the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He sits on the Executive Board of Freedom House and the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL). He serves on the Board of Directors for Service to School, Minnesota Wire, Digital Force Technologies and Owl Cyber Defense. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Votel is a 1980 graduate of the United States Military Academy and earned master's degrees from the U.S. Army Command and Staff College and the Army War College. He is married to Michele; and they have two grown sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. The Votels reside in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.

Franc Milburn is a former UK intelligence officer and paratrooper. Franc shares his interest in post-quantum military technology, UFOs, UAPs, and geopolitics, and international relations. Franc has 22 years of experience producing threat & risk assessments and providing strategic & operational advice to a variety of Fortune 500, aerospace & government clients. Franc is an alumnus of The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and has a degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He has previously written for the Middle East Economic Survey, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. Franc has two peer-reviewed white papers on UAP published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. These are "The Pentagon's UAP Task Force" and "American Development of UAP Technology: A Fait Accompli?" Franc is a member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP studies. He has been quoted as a subject matter expert / had work referenced by: Rand, Voice of America, International Herald Tribune, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Middle East Forum, Mystery Wire, American Antigravity. Financially Support the Show with Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesingularitylab ►Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/michaelmataluni​ ►Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/the-singularity-lab/id1578521813?l=en ►Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1gE7LEI8R8v4iExhWVnT7w?si=EIjmEDQ-TeadsC_-IReFqQ&dl_branch=1 ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/singularitymike ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesingularitylab/ ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mataluni/ ►Page: https://www.facebook.com/michaelmataluni ►Discord: https://discord.gg/J2AQxqjusv

Today, we chatted with Franc Milburn, a former intelligence officer with over 22 years of experience producing threat & risk assessments for clients operating in hostile environments from North Africa to ME, Iraq & LATAM. His experience includes providing strategic & operational reviews for extractive industries and a variety of Fortune 500, aerospace & government clients. Franc is an alumnus of The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and has a degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He has previously written for the Middle East Economic Survey, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day.   Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls.   Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint's tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia's information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West.   Clint's writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI's Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command.   21:00 Christian Finnegan  is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. Finnegan is perhaps best known as one of the original panelists on VH1's Best Week Ever and as Chad, the only white roommate in the “Mad Real World” sketch on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show. Additional television appearances as himself or performing stand up have included “Conan”, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”, "Would You Rather...with Graham Norton", “Good Afternoon America” and multiple times on The Today Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and on History's I Love the 1880s. He hosted TV Land's game show "Game Time". As an actor, Finnegan portrayed the supporting role of "Carl" in the film Eden Court, a ticket agent in "Knight and Day" and several guest roles including a talk show host on "The Good Wife". In October 2006, Finnegan's debut stand up comedy CD titled Two For Flinching was released by Comedy Central Records, with a follow-up national tour of college campuses from January to April 2007. “Au Contraire!” was released by Warner Bros. Records in 2009. His third special "The Fun Part" was filmed at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston on April 4, 2013 and debuted on Netflix on April 15, 2014.   Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page    

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, the Joe Biden administration has ended the “forever war” in Afghanistan, replacing US boots on the ground with an over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability. Africa, not the Middle East, has become the next frontier for groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State. What lessons should we take from past counterterrorism efforts to address today's and tomorrow's threats? AEI and the https://ctc.usma.edu/ (Combating Terrorism Center) at the US Military Academy at West Point host a discussion exploring the trajectory of the transnational terrorism threat and the successes and failures of the past two decades of counterterrorism operations. Watch the full event https://www.aei.org/events/20-years-after-9-11-counterterrorism-lessons-for-future-frontiers/ (here).

"The problem today that we didn't have during the Cold War or twenty years ago is that there's profound disagreement over what are the biggest threats to our national security." On the day the United States is scheduled to end its military presence in Afghanistan, two experts on counterterrorism — Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware— join Daniel for a special discussion. On the docket is a deep dive into many issues surrounding the exit. What could the US have done better, or differently? What could happen if ISIS-K and Al Qaeda vie for power in a Taliban-led society? Hoffman makes clear that in his opinion, the US should not be leaving. But what is the alternative? Support Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk. Professor Bruce Hoffman has been studying terrorism and insurgency for over four decades. He is a tenured professor in Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service where from 2010 to 2017 he was the Director of both the Center for Security Studies and of the Security Studies Program. In addition, Professor Hoffman is visiting Professor of Terrorism Studies at St Andrews University, Scotland. He previously held the Corporate Chair in Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency at the RAND Corporation and was also Director of RAND's Washington, D.C. Office. Professor Hoffman also served as RAND's Vice President for External Affairs and as Acting Director of RAND's Center for Middle East Public Policy. Appointed by the U.S. Congress to serve as a commissioner on the Independent Commission to Review the FBI's Post-9/11 Response to Terrorism and Radicalization, Professor Hoffman was a lead author of the commission's final report. He was Scholar-in-Residence for Counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency between 2004 and 2006; an adviser on counterterrorism to the Office of National Security Affairs, Coalition Provisional Authority, Baghdad, Iraq in 2004, and from 2004-2005 an adviser on counterinsurgency to the Strategy, Plans, and Analysis Office at Multi-National Forces-Iraq Headquarters, Baghdad. Professor Hoffman was also an adviser to the Iraq Study Group. He has been a Distinguished Scholar, a Public Policy Scholar, a Senior Scholar, and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.; a Senior Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.; a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel; and, a Visiting Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is also a contributing editor to The National Interest and a member of the Jamestown Foundation's Board of Directors; a member of the board of advisers to the FBI Intelligence Analysts Association; and, serves on the advisory boards to the Arms Sales Monitoring Project at the Federation of American Scientists and of Our Voices Together: September 11 Friends and Families to Help Build a Safer, More Compassionate World. Professor Hoffman holds degrees in government, history, and international relations and received his doctorate from Oxford University. In November 1994, the Director of Central Intelligence awarded Professor Hoffman the United States Intelligence Community Seal Medallion, the highest level of commendation given to a non-government employee, which recognizes sustained superior performance of high value that distinctly benefits the interests and national security of the United States. Jacob Ware is a Research Associate in the Counterterrorism and Studies Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr Clint Watts joins the Cognitive Crucible and gives an FBI-perspective on domestic extremism. The conversation references a recent article on Clint's Selected Wisdom substack: Virtual Insanity to Real World Calamity: “How Will Lies Power Domestic Terrorism in 2021?” Clint asserts that domestic terrorist groups are far from homogeneous. Particularly worrisome are young, largely single, largely male, “stochastic haters” who tend to be committed to violence and are accelerating destabilizing trajectories. Clint unpacks the landscape, discusses hard trade-offs between security and privacy, and provides some policy recommendations. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio: Clint Watts is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He previously was an infantry officer in the United States Army, and was the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at United States Military Academy at West Point. Additionally, he was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He's also the author of: “Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News.” A Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. Recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing my first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint's tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

This episode features two interviews. The first focuses on extremism, law enforcement and social media monitoring, and the second on what news that an AI voice clone was used to generate segments of a new Anthony Bourdain documentary tells us about the future of synthetic media.  The January 6 insurrection was preceded by weeks of online promotion and planning- including from former President Donald Trump, who told his supporters the event would be wild. What should the FBI have known in advance, and how does social media monitoring play out in the FBI in practice?  First, to get an expert opinion on these issues and what they mean for the effort to curb domestic extremism, I spoke to Clint Watts, a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC, and author of the book Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. Previously, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point , as a consultant to the FBI's Counter Terrorism Division and National Security Branch, and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. Second, to contemplate the future of synthetic media and the safeguards that need to be in place in a world of voice clones and deep fakes we speak with Sam Gregory, Program Director of WITNESS, a nonprofit that helps people use video and technology to protect human rights. Sam is an expert on synthetic media and ethics, and recently wrote a piece in Wired arguing the world needs more such experts to address the looming problems posed by these new technologies, which offer enormous creative potential along with frightening epistemic implications.

John interviews General (Retired) Russell Howard, former US Army Commander and founding director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. John asks Howard about whether “the War on Terror” is won and Afghanistan's fate as US soldiers leave the country. He and John also discuss the repercussions on neighboring nations like Iran, Pakistan, and even China, as well as the state of three major terrorist organizations — ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Christine Romans is CNN's Chief Business Correspondent and anchor of Early Start with Laura Jarrett weekdays from 4 am to 6 am ET. She won an Emmy award for her work on the series "Exporting America" about globalization and outsourcing American jobs overseas, and is author of three books: Smart is the New Rich: If You Can't Afford it—Put it Down (Wiley 2010) How to Speak Money (Wiley 2012) and Smart is the New Rich Money Guide for Millennials (Wiley March 2015). Romans is known as CNN's explainer-in-chief of all things money. She covers business and finance from the perspective of American workers and small business owners, translating what budgets and bailouts and economic data mean for families. Romans brings an award-winning career in business reporting. In 2014, she crossed the country reporting for her series, "Is College Worth it." In 2010, Romans co-hosted "Madoff: Secrets of a Scandal," a special hour-long investigative report examining disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and how he perpetrated one of the largest investor frauds ever committed by an individual. In 2009, her special "In God We Trust: Faith & Money in America" explored the intersection of how our religious values govern the way we think about and spend our money. Her series of reports "Living Dangerously" illustrated the risks and precautions for the nearly 30 percent of America's population living in the path of an Atlantic-coast hurricane. In "Deadly Hospitals," she examined how hospitals spread dangerous infections and what patients can do to protect themselves. Romans joined CNN Business News in 1999, spending several years reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Romans was the anchor of CNNfn's Street Sweep tracking the market's boom through the late 1990s to tragedy of Sept. 11 attacks. She anchored the first democratic elections in Iraq's history from CNN Center in Atlanta. She has covered four hurricanes and four presidential elections, and was part of the coverage teams that earned CNN a George Foster Peabody award for its Hurricane Katrina coverage and an Alfred I. duPont Award for its coverage of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. The National Foundation for Women Legislators has honored her with its media excellence award for business reporting and the Greenlee School of Journalism named her the 2009 James W. Schwartz award recipient. Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint's tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia's information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint's writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI's Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. Subscribe to Clint Watts on Substack Subscribe to Pete's YouTube Channel Pete Dominick on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

On this episode, Sosh faculty members Audrey Alexander and Mike Robinson talk about the emerging concerns over extremism in the military, how the portrayal of this threat is sometimes distorted, and what the military, government, and the public should do to respond. Audrey Alexander is a researcher and instructor from the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point. She holds a master's degree in Terrorism, Security & Society from the War Studies Department at King's College London, and was a senior research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism prior to coming to West Point. MAJ Mike Robinson is an assistant professor of international affairs at West Point and is a repeat guest of the podcast. He received his PhD in political science from Stanford University, where his research focused on civil-military relations and partisan polarization.   Links For more information about the Combating Terrorism Center, visit their website at https://ctc.usma.edu . The CTC also publishes a monthly newsletter called the CTC Sentinel which covers contemporary terrorism issues – it is accessible for free through their website. MAJ Robinson and Dr. Kori Schake's Op-ed in the NY Times about Extremism and the Military: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/opinion/veterans-capitol-attack.html   The CTC's Dr. Daniel Milton's Report on Veteran Participation on January 6th, 2021: https://ctc.usma.edu/this-is-war-examining-military-experience-among-the-capitol-hill-siege-participants/  

This week, the podcast crew welcomes in the command team of the 3rd Armored Corps ... America's Hammer. They discuss the People First initiative, which has grown Army-wide, and is now in Phase 2 across the Phantom Warrior Corps. They also discuss recent extremism stand-down days held throughout III Corps formations with the help of an expert from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, New York, even as they are in the midst of a multinational warfighter exercise at the Great Place. We cover a lot of ground in an hour, so check it out.    The crew:- Dave Larsen, Fort Hood Public Affairs- SFC Kelvin Ringold, 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command- SGT Melissa Lessard, 504th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade- SPC Brianna Doo, 1st Cavalry Division BandGuests:- LTG Pat White, commanding general, III Corps and Fort Hood- CSM Cliff Burgoyne, command sergeant major, III Corps and Fort Hood- Dr. Daniel Milton, associate professor/research fellow, Combatting Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy at West Point, New YorkMusic provided with expressed written permission by the following artists:Will Courtney (http://www.willcourtneymusic)This podcast is a production of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood and Fort Hood Public Affairs.  Contact us at FortHoodPAO@gmail.comLike us and follow us on Facebook at The Great Big Podcast and III Corps and Fort Hood

LaTosha Brown is an award-winning organizer, philanthropic consultant, political strategist and jazz singer with over twenty years of experience working in the non-profit and philanthropy sectors on a wide variety of issues related to political empowerment, social justice, economic development, leadership development, wealth creation and civil rights. She is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, a power building southern based civic engagement organization that played an instrumental role in the 2017 Alabama U.S. Senate race. Ms. Brown is principal owner of TruthSpeaks Consulting, Inc., a philanthropy advisory consulting firm in Atlanta, GA. For more than 25 years, she has served as a consultant and advisor for individual donors, government, public foundations and private donors. Throughout her career, Ms. Brown has distinguished herself as a trusted expert and resource in political strategy, rural development and special programming for a number of national and regional philanthropies. She is the founding project director of Grantmakers for Southern Progress. Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. I have one sponsor which is an awesome nonprofit GiveWell.org/StandUp for more but Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls. Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint’s tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint’s writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. Subscribe to Clint Watts on Substack Subscribe to Pete's YouTube Channel Pete Dominick on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

In the latest in our "Ask the Blob" series (see links below for more about the name), host David Rothkopf is joined by Juliette Kayyem and Clint Watts (Bios Below). They discuss the rise of domestic terrorism and what can be done to combat it. They also answer the audience's questions on the subject. A very informative discussion not to be missed.Note: This podcast is available in its entirety exclusively for our members. To become a member, please visit The DSR Network.Juliette KayyemJuliette Kayyem has spent the last two decades in both state and federal government managing complex policy initiatives and organizing government responses to major crises. She is a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she is faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects and a CNN National Security analyst. Previously, she served as President Obama's Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, where she played a pivotal role in major operations responding to the BP Oil Spill and H1N1 pandemic. Juliette is the author of the 2016 bestselling book Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home.Clint WattsClint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. He examined the rise of social media influence in his 2018 book Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. Clint testified before four Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint previously served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, and as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.Trump Takes on The Blob - PoliticoThe Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama’s Foreign-Policy Guru - New York TimesThe revenge of the blob - VoxSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest in our "Ask the Blob" series (see links below for more about the name), host David Rothkopf is joined by Juliette Kayyem and Clint Watts (Bios Below). They discuss the rise of domestic terrorism and what can be done to combat it. They also answer the audience's questions on the subject. A very informative discussion not to be missed.Note: This podcast is available in its entirety exclusively for our members. To become a member, please visit The DSR Network.Juliette KayyemJuliette Kayyem has spent the last two decades in both state and federal government managing complex policy initiatives and organizing government responses to major crises. She is a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she is faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects and a CNN National Security analyst. Previously, she served as President Obama's Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, where she played a pivotal role in major operations responding to the BP Oil Spill and H1N1 pandemic. Juliette is the author of the 2016 bestselling book Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home.Clint WattsClint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. He examined the rise of social media influence in his 2018 book Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. Clint testified before four Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint previously served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, and as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.Trump Takes on The Blob - PoliticoThe Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama’s Foreign-Policy Guru - New York TimesThe revenge of the blob - VoxSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

-Brian Kitching is an active duty Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army who's currently serving in a fellowship at the White House.-He has served in key roles within Special Operations and Infantry units, including assignments to the 75th Ranger Regiment, 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, and 3rd Infantry Division.-LTC Kitching has deployed on 10 separate occasions and spent over 50 months deployed to Afghanistan since 2002, earning a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars for Valor during that time.-Most recently served as a special assistant to the 40th Chief of Staff of the Army and as a General Wayne Downing Scholar at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.-He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Alabama A&M University, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Masters of Arts in International Affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.-He's a husband, father, strong proponent for ending the stigma surrounding PTSD, and patriot.Check out 'Soldiering On with PTSD' by Brian Kitching:https://now.tufts.edu/articles/soldiering-ptsdDownload the O2X Tactical Performance App:app.o2x.comLet us know what you think:Website: http://o2x.comIG: https://instagram.com/o2xhumanperformance?igshid=1kicimx55xt4f

Prioritizing and funding cognitive and information-related capability is challenging. During this episode, Mark Mitchell recaps recent efforts within the Department of Defense as well as other United States government interagency efforts which have not reached their full potential. Bio: Mark Mitchell is a former senior executive in the Department of Defense who served most recently as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD(SO/LIC)). He is a highly decorated U.S. Army infantry and Special Forces combat veteran who served 28 years on active duty. He participated in multiple campaigns in the First Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2012, Colonel Mitchell served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the Senior Military Assistant to ASD(SO/LIC). His final assignment in uniform was on the National Security Council as the Director for Counterterrorism. Following his retirement from active duty, Mitchell worked as a business executive in the private sector. He also served as a National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and non-resident fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He is also a board member and advisor to several non-profit organizations dedicated to serving veterans and their families, including Warriors Ethos, Gold Star Teen Adventures, the Global SOF Foundation, and Special Operations Survivors. See this link for show notes. See this link for more information about the Phoenix Challenge 2.0 Conference co-hosted by IPA and ARLIS. IPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, you can connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell on LinkedIn.

26:20 Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint’s tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint’s writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. 50:00 Derek Thompson is a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine and a weekly news analyst for NPR's "Here and Now." We talked about his latest pieces at The Atlantic. He was born in McLean, Va., in 1986, and he graduated from Northwestern University, in 2008, with a triple major in journalism, political science, and legal studies.  In 2015, he wrote the cover story "A World Without Work" about the future of jobs and technology. "Hit Makers," his first book on the secret histories of pop culture hits and the science of popularity, comes out in February 2017. He has appeared on Forbes' "30 Under 30" list and Time's "140 Best Twitter Feeds." I always love talking to him.  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. If you want to add something to the show email me StandUpwithPete@gmail.com Join the Stand Up Community Stand Up is also brought to you this month by GiveWell.org GiveWell is a nonprofit dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities and publishing the full details of our analysis to help donors decide where to give. GiveWell.org/Standup

Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint’s tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint’s writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. Steven Hassan is a mental health professional who has been helping people leave destructive cults since 1976 after he was deprogrammed from Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church. He is the author of four books Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults, Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves, Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Thoughts & Beliefs, and  The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How The President Uses Mind Control. He is the founding director of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, located outside Boston. Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. If you want to add something to the show email me StandUpwithPete@gmail.com Join the Stand Up Community Stand Up is also brought to you this month by GiveWell.org GiveWell is a nonprofit dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities and publishing the full details of our analysis to help donors decide where to give. GiveWell.org/Standup

John Ellis has been in around the news business (and the American political establishment) for most of his adult life, working for NBC News, the Boston Global, CNBC, Fox News Elections and Business News and Newscorp. He also served as a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics and was a Senior Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (2002-2004), where he was awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Award by the U.S. Army for his work on "Future Threats." Today he is the publisher and guiding light of News Items, a daily newsletter that covers global politics, financial news, advanced technologies and science. On Friday November 5, as election returns pointed to victory for Democratic Challenger Joe Biden, John Ellis offered his thoughts on the surprising Republican performance, recalls warning President Donald Trump about the imminent danger of covid-19 in January 2020, and talks about how private equity may be in for a rude awakening in 2021.

What drives militant politics? Studies from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Western Africa, A case study in Kerala, the enigmatic Southern state of India, and the similarities between Pakistan, India, and the United States in scriptural literalism in religion and politics. Prof. Carol Christine Fair is a Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Her work is primarily focused on counter-terrorism and South Asian topics. She was a political officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan and a senior research associate at USIP's Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention. She has served as a Senior Fellow at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and a Senior Resident Fellow at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis. VOTE. MAKE OUR DEMOCRACY BETTER. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scientificsense/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/scientificsense/support

All eyes in America and the world are on the US presidential election this year. Incumbent President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidate former Vice-President Joe Biden represent two different visions for America but also its foreign policy. Amidst a climate of widespread disinformation, increasing polarization, a global pandemic and rising conflict and unrest, there is much at stake.The outcome of the election will not only have an impact on domestic issues but could potentially result in even more grave consequences for US foreign policy in the Near and Middle East.Join us as we discuss the many ways in which this election could impact the lives of Arab and Muslim communities within the US. Given many in the Arab and Muslim communities in America remain interested in, connected to, and concerned about their countries of origin, we'll also examine how the results of the election could shape the direction of U.S. foreign policy towards the countries from which many in these communities originate.Our speakers will delve into the issues facing these diaspora communities as they head to the polls, from critical legal issues concerning immigration and freedom of speech, to the domestic and foreign dimensions of Islamophobia. On the foreign policy front, our speakers will weigh in on the potential changes to US relations with the Near and Middle East if a new administration takes office, and what future policies we can expect surrounding Israel and the Palestinian cause.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Speakers:Dalia Fahmy is Associate Professor of Political Science at Long Island University, a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Policy in Washington DC, and a visiting scholar that the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University, and author of “The Rise of the Alt-Right: Understanding the Sociocultural Effects of Mainstreaming Anti-Muslim Sentiment."Khaled A. Beydoun, a native of Detroit, is a leading scholar on national security, the War on Terror, and civil rights. He is Associate Professor of Law and Associate Director of Civil Rights and Social Justice at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights, Wayne State University. Beydoun is the author of the critically acclaimed American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear (University of California Press). He serves on the Michigan Advisory Committee of the US Commission for Civil Rights.Joe Macaron is a fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC primarily focusing his research on US strategy and politics, international relations, and conflict analysis in the Middle East. Macaron's previous analyst roles include the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies. A former journalist, he also advised the International Monetary Fund on public engagement in the Middle East and served in different capacities in the United Nations system.Omar Baddar is a Palestinian-American political analyst based in Washington, DC. Previously, he served as the deputy director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), Executive Director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts, and was a digital producer and presenter with Al Jazeera's The Stream. He holds a master's degree in political science, with research focusing on U.S. policy toward Palestine and Israel.Moderator:Mobashra Tazamal is a Muslim-American researcher and writer on global Islamophobia. Her work has been published in The Independent, Al-Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Religious Response, & The New Arab.

Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. If you want to add something to the show email me StandUpwithPete@gmail.com Join the Stand Up Community   Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint’s tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint’s writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. Glenn Kirschner is a former federal prosecutor with 30 years of trial experience.  He served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for 24 years, rising to the position of Chief of the Homicide Section.  In that capacity, Glenn supervised 30 homicide prosecutors and oversaw all homicide grand jury investigations and prosecutions in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the DC U.S. Attorney’s Office, Glenn served more than six years on active duty as an Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) prosecutor, trying court-martial cases and handling criminal appeals, including espionage and death penalty cases. Glenn tried hundreds of cases in his 30 years as a prosecutor, including more than 50 murder trials, multiple lengthy RICO trials and precedent-setting cases.  Glenn's YouTube Channel Glenn's Podcast How To Vote In The 2020 Election In Every State. Everything you need to know about mail-in and early in-person voting in every state in the age of COVID-19, including the first day you can cast your ballot in the 2020 election. (FiveThirtyEight / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)* *Aggregated by What The Fuck Just Happened Today? Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page PLEASE SIGN UP FOR A PAID SUBSCRIPTION 

8:45 Dr Ruth Ben Ghiat   is an internationally renowned historian, speaker, and political commentator on fascism, authoritarian leaders, and propaganda. She’s Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University and Advisor to Protect Democracy. Pre order her new book!  Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present Follow her on Twitter @ruthbenghiat at 35:35 I catch up with Clint Watts @selectedwisdom who is a real cool guy. He is really nice and down to earth and great at explaining complex foreign policy issues and national security threats. Before becoming a consultant, he served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent on a Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC) and as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB). Clint earned a B.S. from the United States Military Academy and an M.A. from Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He is the editor of the SelectedWisdom.com blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @selectedwisdom 1:19 Lastly I argued with Cameron Gabbs for over an hour. Cameron is a Canadian American who lives and goes to school at Arizona State University and someone I call a "Maybe Trumper"   Please sign up for a paid subscription to this podcast

In this episode of the Irregular Warfare Podcast, Kyle Atwell and Nick Lopez discuss the inner workings of nonstate armed groups in Syria and Iraq with Dr. Vera Mironova of Harvard University and Dr. Daniel Milton of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The conversation is based on analysis of ISIS documents captured on the battlefield and hundreds of interviews with civilians and fighters on the front lines. Intro music: "Unsilenced" by KetsaOutro music: "Launch" by KetsaCC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Today I am joined by Colonel (ret.) Liam Collins, PhD. who is a career Special Forces officer, founding Director of the Modern War Institute at West Point and previously served as the Director of the Combating Terrorism Center.

Stand Up with Pete Dominick is on every weekday morning. Please consider a paid subscription  Glenn Kirschner is a former federal prosecutor with 30 years of trial experience.  He served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for 24 years, rising to the position of Chief of the Homicide Section.  In that capacity, Glenn supervised 30 homicide prosecutors and oversaw all homicide grand jury investigations and prosecutions in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the DC U.S. Attorney’s Office, Glenn served more than six years on active duty as an Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) prosecutor, trying court-martial cases and handling criminal appeals, including espionage and death penalty cases. Check out Glenn's new YouTube page  Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He is the author of Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command.

Five years ago on a summer day, Michelle said goodbye to her sister who told her she found a job in Austria. Her sister had a friend there, so it wasn't completely out of the blue.“When I hugged her, it didn't feel like I was going to hug her for the last time,” said Michelle, who asked that her full name not be used and that her sister not be identified because she fears backlash against herself and her family.Related: Policymakers rush to stave off economic collapse on the African continentMichelle's sister sent some pictures after she arrived in Austria, but then she went silent. Michelle said her sister was going through a rough patch. She grew up in a Christian family in Canada, but had converted to Islam. She had been through several unsuccessful marriages and struggled with her mental health.“I could tell she was kind of cycling, like she's going to do something because things weren't going so well for her,” Michelle said. “I had some concerns about her when she did leave, but I thought, ‘Well, OK, maybe this will do her some good.'”The next time that Michelle and her family heard about her sister was from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. They told them she was in Raqqa, Syria, the capital of the so-called ISIS caliphate. Michelle's sister had married a man online who was a member of ISIS, and she'd gone to Syria to join him.Michelle never imagined her sister would take such actions. “What could I have done differently, and how did it ever get to be to this extent?” she wondered.Today, Michelle is in touch with her sister and claims to have proof that she wasn't involved in fighting for ISIS, but whether she'll be allowed to return to Canada is unclear.  Since the fall of ISIS, countries have grappled with the question of what to do with individuals who left to join the group. Those suspected of having ties with ISIS face stigma back home. And now, there's a new threat: the coronavirus. Michelle worries that her sister, now a mother of three, is especially vulnerable to the coronavirus in a camp in Syria. “She is malnourished. She's got broken teeth, and her hair and skin is a very strange texture. She is already in a fragile state.”Related: Detroit needs Canadian nurses. But coronavirus threatens their cross-border travel.Already dire circumstances As of Monday, 39 COVID-19 cases and three deaths have been reported in Syria. Health experts and aid workers warn that once the pandemic hits the area, it will spread through the camps very quickly.The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to get aid to the camps in northern Syria. Borders are closed. Airports have shut down. Aid workers themselves have to take precautions so as to not spread the disease.The Syrian civil war has severely impacted the health care infrastructure, and the camps especially, are not prepared to deal with an outbreak, said Sonia Khush, Syria response director for Save the Children. Crowded conditions will accelerate the spread of the virus, Khush added.These concerns prompted the US-led coalition to deliver $1.2 million worth of medical supplies, such as latex gloves and masks, as well as surgical kits, defibrillators and oximeters to hospitals and detention facilities in northeastern Syria in late March.Related: Rohingya women are traditionally kept out of leadership roles. Will the coronavirus change that? There are now only 28 intensive care unit beds and 11 ventilators in all of northeastern Syria, according to Khush.“I mean the population of al-Hol camp is four times the density of New York City. So, the idea that all these social distancing measures can be easily put in place is just not realistic.”Sonia Khush, Save the Children“I mean the population of al-Hol camp is four times the density of New York City,” Khush said. “So, the idea that all these social distancing measures can be easily put in place is just not realistic.”Already, the circumstances in the camps were dire. Last summer, representatives from Human Rights Watch visited the al-Hol camp three times. They found “overflowing latrines, sewage trickling into tattered tents, and residents drinking wash water from tanks containing worms. Young children with skin rashes, emaciated limbs, and swollen bellies sifted through mounds of stinking garbage under a scorching sun or lay limp on tent floors, their bodies dusted with dirt and flies.”Aid groups and camp managers told Human Rights Watch that children were dying from acute diarrhea and flulike infections. Now, with the threat of the coronavirus looming, human rights watchers and local doctors are urging the international community to act to prevent an outbreak. Foreigners flocked to Syria and IraqIn 2014, with the rise of ISIS, an increasing number of foreigners flocked to Syria and Iraq to join the group as fighters or to live under its rule. Among them were young women from Europe, Canada and the US. Some, like Michelle's sister, got married online. Others married once inside the caliphate. Many became mothers.Related: Documenting the toll of coronavirus on New York City's ChinatownBy 2017, the US-led coalition and local forces drove out ISIS from most of its territory. ISIS fighters were either killed or taken to prisons. In Syria, most of the women and children who survived the fighting ended up in camps in the Kurdish-held territory in the northeastern part of the country. Al-Hol and Roj are two of these camps.Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, explained that before the offensives against ISIS, al-Hol held displaced Syrians and Iraqis. Some were victims of the group's brutal campaign to create a caliphate. These residents still live in the camp, Tsurkov said.In early 2019, al-Hol became a holding place for families suspected of having ties with ISIS. The camps are administered by Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria.“In the screening process, in most cases, children above the age of 12 were separated from their family and taken to prison,” she said. “Those who are at the camp are overwhelmingly women and children and are not suspected of carrying out any activities on behalf of ISIS. If such information reaches the Kurdish authorities, then they are arrested.”According to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, al-Hol and Roj hold 66,000 and 4,000 women and children, respectively. Most are relatives of ISIS militants, but some are former affiliates of the group themselves. The majority are either Syrians or Iraqis, with the numbers roughly split, and around 13,500 are from other countries.What to do with ISIS families Both the United States and the United Kingdom have revoked the citizenship of women who left to join ISIS. But they have also taken back some of their citizens. France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway have repatriated some citizens, most of them children. Canada is an outlier so far.“Some countries are not interested in having any children back or anyone from the camp, no matter their age, due to political considerations essentially,” Tsurkov said.“At the moment, we have 45 Canadians in al-Hol, camp Roj and the prisons in northeast Syria,” said Alexandra Bain, director of Families Against Violent Extremism, who adds that 27 of these Canadians are children.Bain's organization works mostly Canadian families who have had someone caught up in violent extremism. She wants the Canadian government to bring back all of its citizens, but especially the children.“I think we owe it to ourselves to make sure that Canadian citizenship means something,” she said. “People have fought wars before. There have been camp followers before. We're big enough to do this.”“Each person's story is different,” Bain said. “We've had cases where mental health has been a prominent factor; we have young women who went off in search of love and idealism; and we have a young man who was a sniper.” She believes they should all be brought back to Canada and properly investigated.Investigating and prosecuting individuals with suspected ties to ISIS is one possible solution put forward by Brian Michael Jenkins, a terrorism expert and author of several books on the issue. But there are challenges.“Ordinary courtroom requirements are difficult to meet in conflict zones.” Brian Michael Jenkins, errorism expert and author“Ordinary courtroom requirements are difficult to meet in conflict zones,” Jenkins writes in a piece for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.“The countries from which ISIS children originate are confronted with a grave humanitarian crisis,” Mia Bloom writes in an essay. Bloom is a communication professor at Georgia State University and author most recently of “Small Arms: Children and Terrorism.”She describes how ISIS took advantage of children to further advance its ideological goals.“Given that ISIS indoctrination in many cases started at a very young age, the children have to unlearn their knowledge of the Islamic faith that was profoundly distorted by ISIS and re-learn basic life skills. They also should participate in vocational training to facilitate their transition to everyday life,” she writes in the essay.The World contacted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and asked about the repatriation of Canadian citizens, including Michelle's sister, but did not receive a response.Still, Michelle remains hopeful that her sister will be able to return to Canada — and that one day, she'll be able to hug her once again.  “I don't condone anything that ISIS has done. They have done awful, awful things. I hate what they have done [...] but it's not humane to keep somebody captive without letting them know when they can get out or give them access to legal help.”Michelle, whose sister married a man who was an ISIS member and went to Syria to join him “I don't condone anything that ISIS has done. They have done awful, awful things,” Michelle said. “I hate what they have done [...] but it's not humane to keep somebody captive without letting them know when they can get out or give them access to legal help.”

Five years ago on a summer day, Michelle said goodbye to her sister who told her she found a job in Austria. Her sister had a friend there, so it wasn’t completely out of the blue.“When I hugged her, it didn’t feel like I was going to hug her for the last time,” said Michelle, who asked that her full name not be used and that her sister not be identified because she fears backlash against herself and her family.Related: Policymakers rush to stave off economic collapse on the African continentMichelle’s sister sent some pictures after she arrived in Austria, but then she went silent. Michelle said her sister was going through a rough patch. She grew up in a Christian family in Canada, but had converted to Islam. She had been through several unsuccessful marriages and struggled with her mental health.“I could tell she was kind of cycling, like she’s going to do something because things weren’t going so well for her,” Michelle said. “I had some concerns about her when she did leave, but I thought, ‘Well, OK, maybe this will do her some good.’”The next time that Michelle and her family heard about her sister was from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. They told them she was in Raqqa, Syria, the capital of the so-called ISIS caliphate. Michelle’s sister had married a man online who was a member of ISIS, and she’d gone to Syria to join him.Michelle never imagined her sister would take such actions. “What could I have done differently, and how did it ever get to be to this extent?” she wondered.Today, Michelle is in touch with her sister and claims to have proof that she wasn’t involved in fighting for ISIS, but whether she’ll be allowed to return to Canada is unclear.  Since the fall of ISIS, countries have grappled with the question of what to do with individuals who left to join the group. Those suspected of having ties with ISIS face stigma back home. And now, there's a new threat: the coronavirus. Michelle worries that her sister, now a mother of three, is especially vulnerable to the coronavirus in a camp in Syria. “She is malnourished. She's got broken teeth, and her hair and skin is a very strange texture. She is already in a fragile state.”Related: Detroit needs Canadian nurses. But coronavirus threatens their cross-border travel.Already dire circumstances As of Monday, 39 COVID-19 cases and three deaths have been reported in Syria. Health experts and aid workers warn that once the pandemic hits the area, it will spread through the camps very quickly.The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to get aid to the camps in northern Syria. Borders are closed. Airports have shut down. Aid workers themselves have to take precautions so as to not spread the disease.The Syrian civil war has severely impacted the health care infrastructure, and the camps especially, are not prepared to deal with an outbreak, said Sonia Khush, Syria response director for Save the Children. Crowded conditions will accelerate the spread of the virus, Khush added.These concerns prompted the US-led coalition to deliver $1.2 million worth of medical supplies, such as latex gloves and masks, as well as surgical kits, defibrillators and oximeters to hospitals and detention facilities in northeastern Syria in late March.Related: Rohingya women are traditionally kept out of leadership roles. Will the coronavirus change that? There are now only 28 intensive care unit beds and 11 ventilators in all of northeastern Syria, according to Khush.“I mean the population of al-Hol camp is four times the density of New York City. So, the idea that all these social distancing measures can be easily put in place is just not realistic.”Sonia Khush, Save the Children“I mean the population of al-Hol camp is four times the density of New York City,” Khush said. “So, the idea that all these social distancing measures can be easily put in place is just not realistic.”Already, the circumstances in the camps were dire. Last summer, representatives from Human Rights Watch visited the al-Hol camp three times. They found “overflowing latrines, sewage trickling into tattered tents, and residents drinking wash water from tanks containing worms. Young children with skin rashes, emaciated limbs, and swollen bellies sifted through mounds of stinking garbage under a scorching sun or lay limp on tent floors, their bodies dusted with dirt and flies.”Aid groups and camp managers told Human Rights Watch that children were dying from acute diarrhea and flulike infections. Now, with the threat of the coronavirus looming, human rights watchers and local doctors are urging the international community to act to prevent an outbreak. Foreigners flocked to Syria and IraqIn 2014, with the rise of ISIS, an increasing number of foreigners flocked to Syria and Iraq to join the group as fighters or to live under its rule. Among them were young women from Europe, Canada and the US. Some, like Michelle’s sister, got married online. Others married once inside the caliphate. Many became mothers.Related: Documenting the toll of coronavirus on New York City's ChinatownBy 2017, the US-led coalition and local forces drove out ISIS from most of its territory. ISIS fighters were either killed or taken to prisons. In Syria, most of the women and children who survived the fighting ended up in camps in the Kurdish-held territory in the northeastern part of the country. Al-Hol and Roj are two of these camps.Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, explained that before the offensives against ISIS, al-Hol held displaced Syrians and Iraqis. Some were victims of the group’s brutal campaign to create a caliphate. These residents still live in the camp, Tsurkov said.In early 2019, al-Hol became a holding place for families suspected of having ties with ISIS. The camps are administered by Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria.“In the screening process, in most cases, children above the age of 12 were separated from their family and taken to prison,” she said. “Those who are at the camp are overwhelmingly women and children and are not suspected of carrying out any activities on behalf of ISIS. If such information reaches the Kurdish authorities, then they are arrested.”According to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, al-Hol and Roj hold 66,000 and 4,000 women and children, respectively. Most are relatives of ISIS militants, but some are former affiliates of the group themselves. The majority are either Syrians or Iraqis, with the numbers roughly split, and around 13,500 are from other countries.What to do with ISIS families Both the United States and the United Kingdom have revoked the citizenship of women who left to join ISIS. But they have also taken back some of their citizens. France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway have repatriated some citizens, most of them children. Canada is an outlier so far.“Some countries are not interested in having any children back or anyone from the camp, no matter their age, due to political considerations essentially,” Tsurkov said.“At the moment, we have 45 Canadians in al-Hol, camp Roj and the prisons in northeast Syria,” said Alexandra Bain, director of Families Against Violent Extremism, who adds that 27 of these Canadians are children.Bain’s organization works mostly Canadian families who have had someone caught up in violent extremism. She wants the Canadian government to bring back all of its citizens, but especially the children.“I think we owe it to ourselves to make sure that Canadian citizenship means something,” she said. “People have fought wars before. There have been camp followers before. We’re big enough to do this.”“Each person’s story is different,” Bain said. “We’ve had cases where mental health has been a prominent factor; we have young women who went off in search of love and idealism; and we have a young man who was a sniper.” She believes they should all be brought back to Canada and properly investigated.Investigating and prosecuting individuals with suspected ties to ISIS is one possible solution put forward by Brian Michael Jenkins, a terrorism expert and author of several books on the issue. But there are challenges.“Ordinary courtroom requirements are difficult to meet in conflict zones.” Brian Michael Jenkins, errorism expert and author“Ordinary courtroom requirements are difficult to meet in conflict zones,” Jenkins writes in a piece for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.“The countries from which ISIS children originate are confronted with a grave humanitarian crisis,” Mia Bloom writes in an essay. Bloom is a communication professor at Georgia State University and author most recently of “Small Arms: Children and Terrorism.”She describes how ISIS took advantage of children to further advance its ideological goals.“Given that ISIS indoctrination in many cases started at a very young age, the children have to unlearn their knowledge of the Islamic faith that was profoundly distorted by ISIS and re-learn basic life skills. They also should participate in vocational training to facilitate their transition to everyday life,” she writes in the essay.The World contacted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and asked about the repatriation of Canadian citizens, including Michelle’s sister, but did not receive a response.Still, Michelle remains hopeful that her sister will be able to return to Canada — and that one day, she'll be able to hug her once again.  “I don’t condone anything that ISIS has done. They have done awful, awful things. I hate what they have done [...] but it’s not humane to keep somebody captive without letting them know when they can get out or give them access to legal help.”Michelle, whose sister married a man who was an ISIS member and went to Syria to join him “I don’t condone anything that ISIS has done. They have done awful, awful things,” Michelle said. “I hate what they have done [...] but it’s not humane to keep somebody captive without letting them know when they can get out or give them access to legal help.”

“For a long time, these were fields that were seen as kind of ancillary—compliance issues, have-to-dos and cost centers,” Juan C. Zarate says of anti-money laundering, fraud and cybersecurity. “Today, management of financial crime risk is now a fundamental part of banking.” On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Zarate—a former senior counter-terrorist financing official in the George W. Bush administration currently affiliated with the Financial Integrity Network, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, Harvard Law School and NBC News — discusses the central and convergent role that financial crimes enforcement plays in banking today. Among other topics, Zarate addresses: The capacity of cyber criminals to circumvent defenses, manipulate systems and even change fundamental data The “arms race” in financial crimes to stop threats from nation-states like Iran and North Korea The role of technologies like AI and machine learning in “deepening the moat” around banks, as well as the nearness of next-generation technologies like quantum encryption The technical skills banks need access to in today’s environment, including data science and engineers

Please join the CSIS International Security Program for a conversation on the findings of the Congressionally mandated Syria Study Group and a discussion assessing the impact of coercive Russian and Iranian gray zone activities on U.S. and allied interests and on the trajectory of the Syrian conflict.Event Agenda   2:00 PM - 2:30 PM: Briefing on Syria Study Group's Findings Dana Stroul, Co-Chair, Syria Study Group Michael Singh, Co-Chair, Syria Study Group 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM: Panel Discussion on Gray Zone Activities in Syria Ibrahim al-Assil, Non-Resident Scholar, Middle East Institute Jon B. Alterman, Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies Soner Çağaptay, Beyer Family Fellow and Director, Turkish Research Program, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy LTG (ret.) Charles Cleveland, Senior Fellow, Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy West Point This event is made possible through CSIS general support funds.

TESTO DELL'ARTICOLO ➜ http://www.bastabugie.it/it/articoli.php?id=5843L'ARMATA DI BAMBINI CHE L'ISLAM USA PER LA GUERRA SANTA ALL'OCCIDENTE di Lorenza FormicolaIl tredicenne che il 12 luglio s'è fatto saltare in aria in un attentato suicida, durante un matrimonio, nella provincia di Nangarhar nell'Afghanistan orientale, uccidendo cinque persone e ferendone 40, ha riproposto il problema della radicalizzazione islamica di bambini e adolescenti.Uno spettacolo horror di dimensione globale, oggi facilitato dall'islam grazie alla tecnologia - strumento sfruttato al massimo dai terroristi islamici in conformità con il mandato dei Fratelli Musulmani di "indebolire l'Occidente anche con le loro armi". Ma non è solo la propaganda su YouTube a rubare le coscienze dei bambini.Le Nazioni Unite già nel 2006 denunciavano l'esistenza di 250.000 bambini che in tutto il mondo erano stati arruolati per combattere in circa 20 conflitti differenti. Allora il sedicente Stato Islamico era solo un'idea, eppure in poco tempo è stata poi costruita l'organizzazione di quella radicalizzazione che nei primi mesi del 2015 aveva già oltre 1.500 bambini a combattere in prima linea e ne aveva addestrati oltre mille come kamikaze.Il Combating Terrorism Center, nel più recente rapporto in materia, condusse tra il 2015 e il 2016 una meticolosa indagine per svelare come le organizzazioni estremiste violente, e in particolare quelle legate all'islam, da tempo reclutavano bambini a un ritmo sempre più sostenuto.I talebani pakistani gestiscono ad oggi numerose cosiddette scuole dedicate alla formazione di terroristi preadolescenti; gli houthi - gruppo armato sciita nello Yemen - hanno sistematicamente introdotto l'inclusione dei bambini nelle loro fila mentre la milizia Hezbollah in Libano ha iniziato a inquadrare adolescenti per rafforzare la presenza in Siria.Il fenomeno non è nuovo e ha diversi antecedenti storici. C'è sicuramente la matrice nazionalsocialista, conclusione a cui è arrivato anche Quilliam - think tank londinese - nel rapporto The Children of Islamic State. Secondo gli autori l'isis si è ispirato anche alla Gioventù Hitleriana per indottrinare i bambini e prima ancora era stato il comunismo a inquadrare i bambini anche prelevandoli dalle famiglie.I RAGAZZI DELL'ISLAMNon è un caso che le Nazioni Unite recentemente abbiano ricevuto notizie credibili, ma non verificate, su un'ala giovanile dell'Isis, Fityan al-Islam - "ragazzi dell'islam".Che esista o meno il gruppo, è certo che bambini e ragazzini vengono costretti a memorizzare i versetti del Corano e a partecipare all'addestramento jihadista, che prevede sparatorie, armi e arti marziali.Lo Stato Islamico ha investito - e pubblicizzato - così tanto sulla radicalizzazione dei bambini che ogni preoccupazione organizzativa sovrasta i meri benefici della propaganda a breve termine. È chiaro che la leadership dello Stato Islamico ha una visione a lungo termine della gioventù e dei suoi sforzi jihadisti: i bambini militanti di oggi saranno i terroristi di domani, con ogni probabilità. E le questioni morali islamiche, radicalizzate anche dall'impegno sul campo di battaglia con i giovani musulmani, saranno probabilmente all'ordine del giorno nei proclami jihadisti negli anni a venire.C'è stato un momento in cui la presenza e la partecipazione dei bambini nella propaganda dello Stato Islamico è stata ostentata quasi quotidianamente: bambini presenti in molteplici contesti, dalle esecuzioni altamente pubblicizzate ai campi di addestramento, alle spedizioni daw'a.Il Combating Terrorism Center ha analizzato proprio la propaganda fotografica diffusa sul martirio con bambini e giovani per tirare fuori dati importantissimi.Dal 1° gennaio 2015 al 31 gennaio 2016, 89 bambini e giovani sono stati elogiati nella propaganda dello Stato Islamico. Il 51% è stato dichiarato morto in Iraq, mentre il 36% è morto in Siria. Il resto è stato ucciso durante le operazioni in Yemen, Libia e Nigeria. Il 60% percento del campione è stato classificato come "adolescente", il restante 40% sono preadolescenti o un po' più grandi. Degli 89 casi, il 39% è deceduto dopo aver fatto esplodere un dispositivo esplosivo improvvisato a bordo di un veicolo contro l'obiettivo.Il 33% è stato ucciso in operazioni sul campo di battaglia non specificate, il 6% è morto mentre lavorava come propagandista all'interno di unità e il 4% si è suicidato in attentati contro civili. Per il resto del 18% si è trattato di morte in operazioni di saccheggio in cui un gruppo di combattenti, per lo più adulti, s'infiltra e attacca una posizione nemica usando armi automatiche leggere prima di uccidersi facendo esplodere cinture suicide. Il 40% delle volte, i bambini e i giovani sono morti in operazioni contro le forze di sicurezza, militari e polizia. E solo il 3% ha compiuto attacchi suicidi contro civili.I BAMBINI SOLDATOC'è ancora un elemento particolarmente esemplificativo e, secondo sempre il Combating Terrorism Center, è deducibile dalle fotografie diffuse.Nel 6 per cento delle fotografie, i bambini e i giovani sono mascherati. Dei rimanenti casi, il 46 per cento è rappresentato con sorrisi sui volti. Un ulteriore 28% dei bambini e dei giovani si trovava in frutteti e prati, uno scenario presumibilmente scelto per riecheggiare il paradiso a cui sono convinti di essere destinati. Si tratta del tema della felicità nella prospettiva del martirio islamico: quando ci si uccide per uccidere.Così come è altrettanto sorprendente che i bambini e i giovani dello Stato Islamico operino in modo simile agli adulti. I bambini stanno combattendo, e hanno combattuto, a fianco, piuttosto che al posto, di maschi adulti. In altre circostanze storiche i bambini soldato sono stati una strategia di ultima istanza, come un modo per "sostituire rapidamente le perdite sul campo di battaglia" o in operazioni specializzate per le quali gli adulti potrebbero essere meno efficaci. Nel contesto dello Stato islamico i bambini sono usati più o meno allo stesso modo degli adulti, il che significa che l'uso di bambini e ragazzi è stato normalizzato sotto il dominio dell'Isis. Invece di salutarli come giovani eroi, i media islamici li celebrano semplicemente come eroi.Secondo i dati Onu, attualmente, sono ben 58 i gruppi armati di matrice islamica, in 15 paesi del mondo, che radicalizzano, reclutano e si servono di bambini.Da più di un anno lo stato di allerta interessa anche la Germania. Dove, secondo Hans-Georg Maaßen, quando era ancora a capo dell'Ufficio per la protezione della Costituzione (i servizi segreti tedeschi), diverse centinaia di bambini sono a rischio di radicalizzazione islamica e rappresentano un rischio "non trascurabile" per la sicurezza nazionale.Sono bambini e adolescenti che crescono in famiglie da cui ricevono un'educazione radicalmente islamica. Devoti ad una "una visione del mondo estremista che legittima la violenza verso gli altri e sminuisce coloro che non appartengono al loro gruppo", riferiva un rapporto dell'anno scorso dell'Ufficio federale tedesco per la protezione della Costituzione.L'esposizione dei minori all'islam radicale è "allarmante" e rappresenta una "sfida" per gli anni a venire, ha detto oltre un anno fa Maaßen. E l'attenzione dei servizi di sicurezza tedeschi è contemporaneamente rivolta anche ai bambini che stanno tornando con le loro famiglie, o da soli, dai territori occupati dall'Isis.UNA STRATEGIA ANTI-RADICALIZZAZIONEIn Inghilterra lo stesso fenomeno e le medesime preoccupazioni hanno spinto il governo già nel 2015 ad attuare una strategia anti-radicalizzazione, "Prevent". Il che significa che tutti gli enti pubblici sono stati istruiti a riconoscere la radicalizzazione nei più giovani e, se necessario, costretti a segnalarlo all'autorità locali. "Prevent" è una strategia basata sul rischio; identificare i giovani che sembrano essere a rischio di radicalizzazione e mettere in atto interventi per impedire che si trasformi in violenza.Secondo il think tank Quilliam circa 50 bambini del Regno Unito sono cresciuti in un territorio controllato dallo Stato Islamico e si ritiene siano andati in Siria per combattere. "L'obiettivo è quello di preparare una nuova, più forte, seconda generazione di mujaheddin, istruita ad essere una risorsa futura per il gruppo", aggiunge il rapporto.Ritengono, inoltre, che lo Stato Islamico abbia preparato il suo esercito indottrinando i bambini nelle sue scuole e normalizzandoli alla violenza anche attraverso la testimonianza di esecuzioni pubbliche.Un caso eclatante in merito è il macabro video del 2016 che mostrava un bambino inglese di quattro anni ripreso mentre faceva esplodere un'autobomba, uccidendo quattro presunte spie intrappolate nel veicolo.La missione di assistenza delle Nazioni Unite per l'Iraq stima che l'Isis abbia rapito tra gli 800 e i 900 bambini di età compresa tra i nove e i 15 anni. Da agosto 2014 a giugno 2015, centinaia di ragazzi, tra cui Yazidi e Turkmeni, sono stati forzatamente prelevati dalle loro famiglie a Ninive e inviati ai centri di addestramento, dove ai ragazzi di otto anni, come già riportato, veniva insegnato il Corano, l'uso delle armi e le tattiche di combattimento.La radicalizzazione dei bambini è un fenomeno che riguarda anche il Nord America. La CNN ha riferito l'anno scorso che circa 1.000 indagini a riguardo sono state aperte in tutti i 50 Stati. Nell'agosto 2018, undici bambini sono stati trovati in un campo del New Mexico dove venivano addestrati all'uso delle armi da un radicale islamista americano. A Minneapolis, 45 ragazzi hanno lasciato la comunità somala locale per unirsi ad al-Shabab o all'Isis.A giugno un 22enne del Bangladesh, che vive a New York, è stato arrestato perché stava pianificando un attentato a Times Square. Dati parziali che evidenziano l'enorme pericolo rappresentato dalla radicalizzazione dei giovani anche in Occidente.lamentando la scarsa scientificità dell'iniziativa.