Message From The Dean, Stephen W. Bosworth

Establishing the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at The Fletcher School recognizes both the immediate and the long-term requirement for first-rate graduate education and research in counter-terrorism studies. The events of September 11, 2001, the 2002 Bali, 2003 Madrid, and 2005 London bombings, the campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, and the continuing war in Iraq all underscore the threatening and dangerous international security landscape we face. Given these events and the continuing campaign against terrorism, it is essential that future world leaders, such as those studying at The Fletcher School, be given the tools and resources to not only understand the current threat, but to discover ways and means to prevent, predict, and preempt future threats.

The Fletcher School at Tufts University is uniquely positioned among other elite academic institutions to house the Jebsen Center because of its first-class faculty, its interdisciplinary academic structure, and its mature and experienced international graduate student body. These “core competencies” create the comparative advantage that will enable The Fletcher School to develop an internationally recognized counter-terrorism studies program. The Fletcher School is excited about the opening of this new center and about the important work that it has begun to do.