Program on National Security Conference

The Foreign Fighter Problem

Sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute

Tues.-Weds., July 14–15, 2009

National Press Club
529-14th St NW, 13th Fl.
Washington, DC 20045

On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have confronted third-party national combatants. Known as “foreign fighters,” these individuals have gained deadly skills and connections that can be exported or exploited to devastating effect in other locations. Over the past two decades this foreign fighters phenomenon has grown after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to the ethnically cleansed fields of the Balkans to Chechnya and beyond. But this is not a new problem. This conference brought together recognized academic and analytical expertise in order to not only delve into the foreign fighter problem, but also to recommend prescriptive advice on how to deal with this issue into the future.

Conference Report

Speakers and Topics

Conference Opening Remarks
Harvey Sicherman, President, FPRI
Keynote Address
Speaker: Ambassador (ret.) Dell Dailey
Panel 1: The Foreign Fighter Phenomenon – Overview
  • Paper: David Malet, George Washington University
  • Panelists: Mary R. Habeck, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University; Erin Simpson, Marine Corps Command and Staff College; Clinton Watts, Innovative Analytics and Training
  • Moderator: Michael Horowitz, Senior Fellow, FPRI/University of Pennsylvania
  • Multimedia: The Foreign Fighter Phenomenon – Overview
Panel 2: Foreign Fighters and Sovereignty
  • Paper: Major Ian Bryan, ANG, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies
  • Panelists: Jakub Grygiel, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University; Colonel Mackubin Thomas Owens, USMCR (ret.), Editor, Orbis& Senior Fellow, FPRI/United States Naval War College
  • Moderator: Michael Noonan, Director, FPRI Program on National Security
  • Multimedia: Foreign Fighters and Sovereignty
Panel 3: Foreign Fighters and their Economic Impact
  • Paper: Matthew Levitt, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
  • Panelists: Brian Fishman, CTC, USMA; Christopher Hewitt, University of Maryland-Baltimore; Lt. Col. Basheer Ilyas, USA, Joint Staff, DoD
  • Moderator: Stephanie Kaplan, Visiting Fellow, CSIS/MIT
  • Multimedia: Foreign Fighters and their Economic Impact
Panel 4: Case Study: Syria and the Foreign Fighter Problem
  • Paper: David Lesch, Trinity University
  • Panelists: Murhaf Jouejati, National Defense University; Andrew Tabler, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
  • Moderator: Harvey Sicherman, President, FPRI
  • Multimedia: Case Study: Syria and the Foreign Fighter Problem
Panel 5: Disrupting the Foreign Fighter Flow
  • Panelists: Michael Doran, New York University; Dan Green, Terrorism Research Center; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Mackey, USA (ret.), Historian; Barak Mendelsohn, Haverford College
  • Moderator: Michael Noonan, Director, Program on National Security, FPRI
  • Multimedia: Disrupting the Foreign Fighter Flow

FPRI Wishes to Thank its 2011 Partners
Who help make all our programs possible.

On November 15th at the FPRI annual dinner Fouad Ajami was presented with the Seventh Annual Benjamin Franklin Public Service Award. The event was attended by over 360 people.
Dr. John M. Templeton, Jr. was dinner chairman.

FPRI 2011 Annual Dinner

Video of keynote address
Reflections on the Arab Spring
Fouad Ajami

Special Partner Event
Al Qaeda and Jihadi Movements After Bin Laden
Christopher Swift

Special Partner Event
The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al Qaeda
Peter Bergen

FPRI Dinner Booklet and Annual report