For each semester over the last ten years, students at the Center for Global Affairs, under the leadership of Professor Michael F. Oppenheimer, have conducted research and consulting for the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, which reports to the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the Security Council. Our assignments have covered a range of urgent, emerging terrorism challenges confronting the UN and its member states. A sampling of our projects includes ISL use of social media to incite and recruit followers, threats posed by returning terrorist fighters and their families to countries of origin, strategies of member states in processing returning fighters, alternate scenarios for the future of Afghanistan and their consequences for regional and global security, and potential future terrorist use of drones. We are now conducting our twentieth project.
To celebrate this milestone, we assembled CGA CTED alums, current CTED student participants, and CTED leadership for a look back at our accomplishments, a briefing on our current project on terrorist repatriation, and a look ahead at the future of the project. David Scharia, the Director of CTED reflects on the contribution of specific CGA projects to CTED’s mission. Student participants brief on the findings of their projects and the value of the experience to their post-graduate careers.
