Reconsidering the Terrorist Threat: 9/11 Commissioner and Counter-Terrorism Experts Speak at Jebsen Center Opening

Will the threat of terrorism ever fully disappear? Perhaps not, according to the academics, operatives, and practitioners at the opening ceremonies for the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies, but it can be predicted, prevented, or preempted with the correct knowledge and strategies.

Acquiring that knowledge and developing those strategies are the purpose of the new center, which was founded at The Fletcher School in September 2005 and held its official grand opening on January 25, 2006. The evening featured a panel discussion, “Reconsidering the Terrorist Threat: What the Future Holds,” followed by remarks by center director Brig. Gen. (ret.) Russell Howard and center founder Jan Henrik Jebsen, and a keynote address by 9/11 Commissioner Fred Fielding.

The lively panel discussion was moderated by Fletcher security studies professor and Jebsen Center advisor Dr. Richard Schultz. Terrorism experts Jarret Brachman of West Point, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Dr. Bruce Hoffman of RAND, and Rita Katz of the SITE Institute gave brief presentations on the global terrorist threat and fielded questions from audience members.

“We must think and plan strategically beyond the current generation of terrorists,” Hoffman said, “not only to the next, but to the generation after the next: the children who today are being indoctrinated and trained as foot soldiers in what our enemies regard as an epic struggle lasting not months, or even years, but decades.”

“Fighting anyone that supports terrorism,” including sympathetic states like Iran, is crucial, Katz added. “We need to make sure that we stop all the resources that are available to terrorists.”

In his remarks, Gen. Howard, who has over 35 years of experience in the military and was a founding member of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, stated that terrorism’s changing nature necessitates the formation of new strategies, like those being developed by the Jebsen Center, to fight it.

“Mr. Jebsen, [Fletcher] Professors Phaltzgraff and Shultz and I designed a center that we believe can provide instant value-added to the campaign against terrorism,” he said. “Why? Because today’s terrorism is different than that which we have faced in the past and needs to be studied, analyzed and reacted to differently.”

He added, “Fletcher’s educational philosophy actively connects theory to practice, reinforcing the Jebsen Center’s practical focus on prediction, prevention and preemption. Not only will the Jebsen Center apply theory to practice, it will do so on the frontlines of terrorist activity.

Jebsen Center founder and namesake Jan Henrik Jebsen agreed, citing Fletcher’s “outstanding security program” as a primary reason for locating the center on site. He also explained the center’s logo as a metaphor for its activities – it depicts a salamander, representing terrorists, and sunlight, representing and counter-terrorism efforts like those promoted by the Jebsen Center.

“A salamander is impossible to kill as long as it is in its element,” Jebsen said. “The only way to kill it is to get it out of the water and into the sun.”

Fielding, whose speech drew upon his substantial experience in public service and as a member of the 9/11 Commission investigating the devastating terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, praised the Jebsen Center’s investigation of methods to predict, prevent, and preempt terrorism, rather than merely reacting, responding, or recovering from it.

“Terrorism will be with us for a long time, and there is a need for creative, out-of-the-box thinking” in combating it, according to Fielding. “This new center suggests an answer to the question that lingers in the minds of those concerned with radical Islamic terrorism, and see a dearth of study and a dearth of new thinking on the subject.”

He went on to describe his experiences with the 9/11 Commission and some of the findings it uncovered. Various failures of management, he said, were the primary problems with the government’s handling of terrorist threats prior to 2001.

“We were still fighting the Cold War; our guns were all pointing out, literally and figuratively,” Fielding said. But, he optimistically added that the Jebsen Center will provide some of the much-needed new thinking that will change the way American considers the terrorist threat.

The evening culminated in a formal reception and dinner commemorating the official grand opening of the Jebsen Center.

The mission of the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies is to increase the understanding and competency of counter-terrorism professionals. To accomplish this mission, the Jebsen Center funds a robust research and analysis program, hosts conferences and a visiting fellows program, and conducts outreach activities. Predicting, preventing and preempting terrorist activity will be important early research topics at the Center, as will the roles of women and business in the campaign against terrorism.

By Stacy Reiter Neal, MALD ‘07