The Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, as part of its Counterterrorism Project, will host a hybrid all-day conference featuring a variety of current and former national security professionals who will address the current and emerging terrorism challenges facing the United States and its allies.

More than twenty-three years after 9/11, terrorist actors continue to proliferate and evolve, threatening the United States and its allies across the world. But Washington is prone to drastic swings in the threat of terrorism—exaggerating it immediately after a major attack while otherwise neglecting it. This conference will address those policy shortcomings by offering an in-depth look at the future of terrorism.

Join us on December 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET for a hybrid conference, with both in-person and virtual participation, at the Atlantic Council Headquarters, 1400 L St. NW, 11th floor, Washington, DC, 20005.

8:30 a.m. – 8:40 a.m. ET  |  Welcome remarks


Fred Kempe
President & CEO
Atlantic Council

 

8:40 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. ET  |  Keynote remarks and fireside chat

Ambassador Elizabeth Richard 
Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Bureau of Counterterrorism
US Department of State

 

 

Moderator

Hope Hodge Seck
Freelance Journalist

 

 

 

9:20 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. ET  |  Panel one: The terrorist threat from ISIS-K and al-Qaeda

Beth Sanner
Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence

 

 

MG Jim Linder
Senior Advisor for Irregular Warfare; Former Commander of Special Operations Joint Task Force – Afghanistan
Arcanum

 

Colin Clarke
Director of Research
The Soufan Group

 

 

Morgan Tadych
Counterterrorism Project member; Former Army Intelligence Officer
Atlantic Council

 

 

Ambassador John Herbst
Senior Director, Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council

 

 

Moderator

Doug Livermore
Director, Engagements
Irregular Warfare Initiative

 

10:35 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. ET  |  Panel two: Hostages: Ten years after the White House policy review

Jennifer Daskal
Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor, National Security Council
The White House

 

 

Luke Hartig
Executive Director; Former Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council 
Just Security

 

 

Christopher O’leary
Senior Vice President for Global Operations; Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell
The Soufan Group

 

Liz Cathcart
Executive Director; Counterterrorism Project member
Hostage US

 

 

Moderator

Katie Bo Lillis
Senior Reporter, Intelligence and National Security
CNN

 

11:35 a.m. – 12:35 p.m. ET  |  Panel three: Iran and its threat networks

Kirsten Fontenrose
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative; Former Senior Director for the Gulf at the National Security Council
Atlantic Council

 

Ambassador Nathan Sales
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, Former Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Atlantic Council

 

Marc Polymeropolous
Counterterrorism Project member; Central Intelligence Agency Senior Intelligence Service (retired)
Atlantic Council

 

 

Matthew Levitt
Director, Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

 

 

Moderator

Jim Sciutto
Anchor & Chief National Security Analyst
CNN

 

1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. ET  |  Panel four: Tech’s role in terrorist operations: Secure communications, command, and finance

Christine Abizaid
Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
Office of the Director of National Intelligence ( – 

 

 

Rebecca Weiner
Deputy Commissioner, Intelligence & Counterterrorism
New York Police Department

 

 

Edward Bogan
Counterterrorism Project member; Former Senior Operations Officer, Central Intelligence Agency
Atlantic Council

 

 

James Fowler
Counterterrorism Project member; Former Special Operations Command Operator
Atlantic Council

 

 

Moderator

Dan Deluce
National Security & Global Affairs Reporter
NBC News investigative unit

 

2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. ET  |  Fireside chat

General (ret.) Michael Hayden
Senior Advisor; Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Center for Strategic & International Studies

 

 

Moderator

Humeyra Pamuk
Senior Foreign Policy Correspondent
Reuters

 

 

3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. ET  |  Panel five: ISIS in Iraq and Syria

Michael Vickers
Former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
( – 

 

 

Jennifer Cafarella
Director of Strategic Initiatives and National Security Fellow
Institute for the Study of War

 

 

Ambassador Peter Galbraith
Former United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan

 

 

 

Charles Lister
Senior Fellow, Director of Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs
Middle East Institute

 

 

Qutaiba Idlbi
Resident Senior Fellow, Syria, Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

 

 

 

Moderator

Michael R. Gordon
National Security Correspondent
The Wall Street Journal

 

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET  |  Panel six: The future of terrorism and post-conflict Gaza

Andrew Miller
Senior Fellow, National Security and International Policy, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs
Center for American Progress

 

Merissa Khurma
Director, Middle East Program
Wilson Center

 

 

Thomas Warrick
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative
Atlantic Council

 

 

Jonathan Lord
Senior Fellow and Director, Middle East Security Program
Center for New American Security

 

 

Moderator

Nancy Yousef
National Security Correspondent
The Wall Street Journal

 

Explore the project

Counterterrorism Project articles

Following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a widespread assumption emerged that international terrorist threats had been eliminated; but you cannot kill an ideology with bombs and bullets. It takes a sustained effort to address international terrorism and its root causes. The Counterterrorism Project (CTP) is committed to doing just that.

Explore the Initiative

The Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative (SMESI) provides policymakers fresh insights into core US national security interests by leveraging its expertise, networks, and on-the-ground programs to develop unique and holistic assessments on the future of the most pressing strategic, political, and security challenges and opportunities in the Middle East. 

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