Fighting Terror

At the end of August, amidst the US military’s withdrawal from the country, the Taliban swept to victory in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of foreigners and Afghans have been flown out of the country, but many remain, including American and EU citizens as well as Afghan allies. As the Taliban swept through and took Kabul the Afghan military disintegrated within the space of two weeks. The result has been a wide-scale humanitarian crisis which the United Nations Refugee Agency has warned will result in the displacement of half a million more Afghans by years end. The threat of terrorism and Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for terror groups such as Al Qaeda is a prominent security concern. Concerns of a large-scale migration crisis. Concerns even for the Transatlantic relationship between Europe and the US due to the US’ lack of consideration or consulting of its European allies in the build-up to its withdrawal. 

In this episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by Polish MEP Radek Sikorski to discuss Afghanistan from an EU perspective. He is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA) and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE). Sikorski also served as Poland’s Minister of Defence between 2005 and 2007, Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2007 and 2014, and Speaker of Parliament in Poland between 2014 and 2015. 

After the fall of ISIS in the Levant,  hundreds of foreign terrorist fighters have been incarcerated in Syria, Iraq or their home countries in the West.  In addition, radicalised potential terrorists have already been released or will be released soon.  Many of these individuals  minimised their role in the atrocities committed by ISIS or claim that they have left their past behind them or. As the focus more and more shifts on their rehabilitation, many fear that some of these terrorist offenders might hide their true intentions.

In this episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by CEP adviser Ian Acheson to discuss the phenomenon of false compliance by terrorist offenders. Ian Acheson is the co-author of a discussion paper entitled "Hiding in plain sight? Disguised compliance by terrorist offenders" published this week as part of a collaboration between the Counter Extremism Project and the European Policy Centre. The paper raises awareness of the danger posed by terrorist deception and provides recommendations on how this risk can be tackled.

Who is Hezbollah and how should be define the militant group's role in Lebanon and the wider Middle East. In this episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by David Daoud to discuss the role of Hezbollah from a US and Israeli perspective. David Daoud is a research analyst on Hezbollah and Lebanon at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). Prior to that, he held a similar position at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. David has previously worked as a staff member on Capitol Hill, advising on matters related to the Middle East, Israel, and Iran.

After the fall of ISIS in the Levant,  hundreds of foreign terrorist fighters have been incarcerated in Syria, Iraq or their home countries in the West.  In addition, radicalised potential terrorists have already been released or will be released soon.  Many of these individuals  minimised their role in the atrocities committed by ISIS or claim that they have left their past behind them or. As the focus more and more shifts on their rehabilitation, many fear that some of these terrorist offenders might hide their true intentions.

In this episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by CEP adviser Ian Acheson to discuss the phenomenon of false compliance by terrorist offenders. Ian Acheson is the co-author of a discussion paper entitled "Hiding in plain sight? Disguised compliance by terrorist offenders" published this week as part of a collaboration between the Counter Extremism Project and the European Policy Centre. The paper raises awareness of the danger posed by terrorist deception and provides recommendations on how this risk can be tackled.

The seizure of power by the Taliban has left the whole world in a state of shock. Due to the withdrawal of international troops, chaos now reigns throughout the country. Tens of thousands of foreigners and Afghans have been flown out of the country. At the same time, the Taliban have taken command, and their strict interpretation of Islam rules over most of the country. 

The Taliban’s swift and summary takeover of Afghanistan's territory and political leadership has also left many wondering what their return to power means for international jihadism. When they last they ruled Afghanistan, they harbored al-Qaida. This transnational jihadist movement was behind the 9/11 attacks, which prompted the US invasion in 2001 and two decades of military involvement, which now came to a rather disastrous end.

In this episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, a nonresident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative and Middle East Programs and former Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism to discuss how the Taliban's resurgence may affect international jihadism. 

September 11th 2001, will always be remembered as an infamous date in US and global history. Twenty years ago, the world held its breath as the events in New York and Washington unfolded. The terrorist attacks perpetrated by Al-Qaeda that day were the bloodiest ever seen on American soil, launching the US Government's global "war on terror". The country increased the pressure and started military operations against terrorist groups, and states that were sheltering them, and significantly changed its policymaking with regards to national security.

As part of this, the US intervened in Afghanistan and launched what became the longest sustained military campaign in US history,  ending only with the withdrawal of US troops and an almost instant return to power of the Taliban in August 2021.  

In this episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by Martha Crenshaw, a senior fellow at CISAC and FSI and a professor of political science by courtesy at Stanford to discuss the legacy of 9/11 and the war on terrorism 20 years later. 

In December 2020, the European Commission presented the Digital Services Act (DSA) proposal, a major update to internet regulation in the EU. The ambitious legislation aims to create a safer digital space by introducing various new rules and obligations for the Big Tech companies, such as measures to counter the algorithmic amplification, notice and takedown mechanisms or higher transparency. The text is currently in the negotiation phase between the Parliament, the EU Council and the Commission. 

The DSA is only the latest of several initiatives to regulate Big Tech companies and counter harmful content online, such as the German NetzDG, which came into force in 2018, or the EU Terrorist Content Regulation adopted in April 2021. Policymakers in Europe and elsewhere increasingly understand the great responsibility of Big Tech in spreading hate online and address it. 

In today’s podcast, Lucinda Creighton was joined by CEP Senior Adviser Alexander Ritzmann to discuss internet regulation and extremist content online while particularly focussing on the DSA. Alexander Ritzmann advises the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Berlin on internet regulation, including the NetzDG, Artificial Intelligence/Transparency, and the EU Digital Services Act as well as on the effective countering of extremist/terrorist actors and content online. In this context, he authored several policy papers on various internet regulations, most recently the DSA. He has also testified before the German Bundestag, the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives on these matters.

Northern Ireland is known for its violent sectarian conflict that opposed the protestants unionists and the catholic nationalists. The conflict reached its climax between the 1960s and the 90s, during a period known as the troubles, which resulted in the death of over 3600 people. The Good Friday agreement in 1998 established a political equilibrium between both sides and ended most of the hostilities. However, the consequences of this period are still felt throughout Northern Ireland to this day as many fear a return of sectarian violence in the context of Brexit that has further strained the relations between the communities. 

In today's episode, Lucinda Creighton is joined by Professor Richard English to discuss the current state of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Mr English is a Professor of Politics at Queen's University Belfast. His research and publications focus on the politics and history of nationalism, political violence, and terrorism, with a particular emphasis on Ireland and Great Britain. 

The rise and fall of ISIS in the Levant has been the most significant development with regard to Islamist terrorism in recent years. The terrorist group put Iraq and Syria to fire and sword and orchestrated several attacks in Europe and elsewhere. Despite serious setbacks suffered by ISIS, Islamist terrorism continues to thrive and remains one of today's most significant security threats in the West and the Middle East. 

In today's podcast, Lucinda Creighton is joined by Dr Emile Nakhleh, a former CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and a Research Professor at the University of New Mexico, to shed light on Islamist terrorism. Nakhleh is an expert on political Islam, radicalisation and terrorism in the Middle East and was a founding Director of the CIA Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. After taking us through his rich career in the US government, Emile Nakhleh provided us with some insights on the origins and current state of Islamist terrorism, the challenges the Islamic world faces in relation to extremism, and the role of the United States in the Middle East.

In today's episode Lucinda Creighton is joined by Mitch Silber, a global political risk and intelligence analyst and terrorism expert, to discuss the current state of Islamist extremism as well as the resurgence of antisemitism and hate crimes against the Jewish community. 

Mitch Silber is the executive director of the Community Security Initiative, a position created in February 2020  as part of a $4 million plan to help secure local Jewish institutions in the New York region. He also served as Director of Intelligence Analysis at the New York City Police Department (NYPD), where he was the principal counter-terrorism advisor to the Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and was responsible for building out and managing the Analytic and Cyber Unit.