FPRI Summer School

North Africa: Lessons in Counterterrorism

July 21, 2010 / Philadelphia

Ilan Berman

In the "long war" against radical Islam, North Africa is among the most important - and volatile - future fronts. Yet the political dynamics among the countries of the Maghreb are still poorly understood by policymakers in Washington. This is a critical failing, since the region's moderate Muslim states can serve as potent antidotes to the Islamic radicalism prevalent in other parts of the greater Middle East - and as important force-multipliers for American policy in the years ahead. On July 21st, Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council will outline the counterterrorism lessons gleaned from his recent fact-finding trip to the region.

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Mr. Berman is Adjunct Professor for International Law and Global Security at the National Defense University, and a member of the Associated Faculty at Missouri State University's Department of Defense and Strategic Studies. He also serves as a member of the reconstituted Committee on the Present Danger, a columnist for Forbes.com, and as Editor of The Journal of International Security Affairs. Mr. Berman is the author of Tehran Rising: Iran's Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), co-editor, with J. Michael Waller, of Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), and editor of Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). His latest book, Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in July 2009.

Audio

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