THE FUTURE OF COUNTERTERRORISM: TWENTY YEARS AFTER 9/11 - The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Forward Defense practice area and the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative hosted a public event on “The Future of Counterterrorism: Twenty Years After 9/11.” This virtual event took place on Wednesday, September 8, 2021, and featured the release of a forward-looking paper series on the same topic.

Twenty years after September 11, 2001, violent extremists continue to threaten the US homeland and the international rules-based order. While Afghanistan quickly falls to the Taliban just as US troops headed home, nations fear the rise of a new jihadist terror threat abroad. Yet, the extremist threat is not just growing outside US borders: the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol clearly demonstrates that domestic violent extremism poses a distinct challenge to established US counterterrorism policy. With terrorist groups leveraging new tools such as emerging technologies, non-kinetic capabilities, and online platforms to reach their strategic goals, the United States and its allies must reimagine counterterrorism policies to combat the next threat akin to 9/11.

The upcoming twentieth anniversary of 9/11 offers an opportunity to advance foresight and unconventional thinking on the coming decades of terrorism and counterterrorism. This event featured a discussion with President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, foresight vignettes from creative authors Max Brooks and August Cole, and policy recommendations from national security experts including Mary McCord and LTG Michael K. Nagata, USA (Ret.). The event also featured the release of a paper series exploring the way forward for US and allied counterterrorism policy.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 09/08/21