Two strikingly different but simultaneously accurate pictures of al-Qaeda have dominated recent discussion of the terrorist group: one, a resilient foe still determined to attack the United States and its interests abroad, and the other, a wounded organization whose leaders are being hunted down and killed. Join the New America Foundation’s Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative and Foreign Policy magazine for a conference on the current state of the threat from al-Qaeda’s Afghanistan- and Pakistan-based central leadership, its allies, and messaging strategies.
9:30am- Introductions
Steve CollPresident, New America FoundationAuthor, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
9:40am- Panel 1: Al-Qaeda Central: A Threat Assessment
Paul CruickshankAlumni Fellow, New York University Center on Law and SecurityBarbara SudeSenior Political Scientist, RAND CorporationFormer Senior al-Qaeda Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency
moderator
Peter Bergen
Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Author, The Osama bin Laden I Know
10:35am- Panel 2: Al-Qaeda Central: Drones and Allies
Peter BergenSenior Fellow, New America FoundationAuthor, The Osama bin Laden I KnowStephen TankelVisiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Author, Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba (forthcoming)
Anne Stenersen
Research Fellow, Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI)
Author, Al-Qaeda’s Quest for Weapons of Mass Destruction
moderator
Susan Glasser
Executive Editor, Foreign Policy Magazine
11:30am- Panel 3: Al-Qaeda Central: Strategic Communication
Daniel KimmageSenior Fellow, Homeland Security Policy InstituteJoshua GeltzerEditor-in-Chief, Yale Law JournalAuthor, U.S. Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View
moderator
Steve Coll
President, New America Foundation
Author, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
To RSVP for the event, click on the red button or go to the event page:
http://www.newamerica.net/events/2010/al_qaeda_central
For questions, contact Stephanie Gunter at (202) 596-3367 or gunter@newamerica.net.
For media inquiries, contact Kate Brown at (202) 596-3365 or brown@newamerica.net.
Thursday, February 25, 20109:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.New America Foundation
