Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow and director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.
Michael Jacobson is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
In-Depth Reports
At the outset of the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama warned that nuclear terrorism is "one of the greatest threats to global security," observing that terrorist groups like al-Qaeda would "surely use" a nuclear device if they were able to obtain one. He further argued that a "new mindset" is required to successfully meet this dangerous challenge. How has the Obama administration's response to the resilient terrorism threat expanded on or deviated from Bush-era strategy?
To offer unique perspectives on this important question, the Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence has compiled a set of lectures by senior counterterrorism officials delivered at the Institute since President Obama took office. These presentations are part of an ongoing series, initiated in December 2007, in which the Institute hosts top counterterrorism officials from a broad range of U.S. and international agencies. This third volume of published lectures from the series features presentations by:
Todd Hinnen, deputy assistant attorney general for law and policy, Justice Department
Lt. Gen (Ret.) James Clapper, undersecretary of defense for intelligence
Richard Falkenrath, deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, NYPD
Amb. Kenneth Brill, director, National Counterproliferation Center
Lt. Gen (Ret.) Ronald Burgess, director, Defense Intelligence Agency
Adm. Eric Olson, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
Richard Barrett, coordinator, UN al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
Michael Downing, deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, LAPD
The lecture series continues into 2010, with upcoming senior-level speakers from military, intelligence, and diplomatic offices. These officials will offer their guidance on the evolving terrorist threat and their recommendations on strategy to ensure that President Obama's dire warnings about nuclear terrorism do not come to pass.
the Editors
Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Previously, Dr. Levitt served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played a central role in efforts to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse by terrorists, weapons proliferators, and other rogue actors. He is the coauthor, with Yoram Cohen, of the 2009 study Deterred but Determined: Salafi-Jihadi Groups in the Palestinian Arena (2009).
Michael Jacobson is a senior fellow in the Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Previously, he served as senior advisor in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and as counsel on the 9-11 Commission. His areas of focus include sanctions and financial measures to combat national security threats, as well as other issues related to counterterrorism, national security law, and intelligence reform. He is the author of the recently released Terrorist Dropouts: Learning from Those Who Have Left (2010), and coauthor, with Matthew Levitt, of numerous Institute studies, including The Money Trail: Finding, Following, and Freezing Terrorist Financing.
