Terrorism

A collection of 56 posts

Counterterrorism

Zeroing in on Domestic Extremism

A collection of useful resources for those tracking domestic extremism including a number of new deep dives on extremist orgs, their TTPs, and strategies for countering them.

Covert Contact

Bullets of Palestine

Author Howard Kaplan returns to Covert Contact to discuss Bullets of Palestine (the second novel in his Jerusalem Spy Series), chronic tensions in the Middle East, the prospect for reconciliation, Abu Nidal, and his approach to writing.

Covert Contact

Terrorists and Technology

Levi West, Director of Terrorism Studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, returns to look at how terrorists leverage (or don’t) emerging apps and platforms ranging from social media, to encryption, to cryptocurrencies.

Guest Posts

U.S. Objections to the Afghan Taliban: Ends, Ways, or Means?

With reconciliation between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan Government being the goal, it is clear that the U.S. does not object to Afghan Taliban ends, but instead its ways and means.

Covert Contact

From CIA Case Officer to Rookie Cop

Former Air Marshall and CIA Case Officer Patrick Skinner has become a become a police officer in his community in an effort to drive change. We discuss the transition and what he is learning in episode 81.

Covert Contact

Australian Approaches to Counterterrorism

Levi West, the Director of Terrorism Studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, joins me for a wide ranging discussion on Australian counterterrorism programs.

Guest Posts

Carlos

In my office, visitors are surprised to see that I have a copy of one of my own books signed by Ilyich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as “Carlos the Jackal.”

Covert Contact

Iran in the Age of Trump

In episode 70 Phillip Smyth joins me for a quick look at how the change in U.S. leadership is impacting the balance of sectarian power and our policy toward Iran.

Covert Contact

Egyptian, Muslim, American

My friend Angie Gad joins me for episode 68 of Covert Contact to discuss growing up as a first generation Egyptian-American Muslim. We cover a lot of ground in this episode including her family's struggle to maintain and establish roots in two very different worlds

Covert Contact

The Manchester Attack

Regular contributor William J. Tucker joined me to examine the Manchester Attack about 24 hours after it occurred.

Iraq

Ambassador Lukman Faily on Iraq's Future, the Travel Ban, and ISIS

Lukman Faily served as Iraq’s ambassador to the United States for three years. He left that post, and the Iraqi Foreign Service, in 2016. A lot has transpired since our last chat and we plan to follow this short exchange with a more in depth discussion on Covert Contact soon.

Covert Contact

The Nice, France Attack: How Can Counterterrorism Evolve with the Threat

In episode 54 I’m joined again by Patrick Skinner, Director of Special Projects for The Soufan Group [http://soufangroup.com/]. Patrick is a former CIA case officer, with a background in federal law enforcement, who specializes in counterterrorism issues. His background, and current work, allow him to look at

Covert Contact

The Orlando Shooting and Our Struggle to Make Sense of the Senseless

In episode 51 I’m joined once again by Patrick Skinner, Director of Special Projects for The Soufan Group [http://soufangroup.com/]. Patrick is a former CIA Case Officer, with a background in federal law enforcement, who specializes in counterterrorism issues. You can follow Patrick on Twitter @SkinnerPM [https://twitter.

Covert Contact

How Will ISIS Evolve and How Will Our Response Evolve with Them?

In episode 45 I’m joined again by Patrick Skinner, Director of Special Projects for The Soufan Group [http://soufangroup.com/]. Patrick is a former CIA Case Officer, with a background in federal law enforcement, who specializes in counterterrorism issues. In this episode we discuss the danger of an Islamic

Covert Contact

A Look at Transnational Crime from a National Security Perspective

Andrew Trabulsi, entrepreneur, consultant, and co-editor of Warlords, Inc.: Black Markets, Broken States, and the Rise of the Warlord Entrepreneur [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N6PBC2G?btkr=1], joined me on episode 42 of Covert Contact to discuss the growing impact of transnational crime and how it intersects with

Terrorism

Ungoverned Spaces: What Threat do they Pose?

Phil Walter has served in the military, the intelligence community, and the inter-agency. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not contain information of an official nature. He tweets @philwalter1058 [https://twitter.com/philwalter1058] and blogs at www.philwalter1058.com [http://www.philwalter1058.com/]. This

Covert Contact

Are Ungoverned Spaces Inherently Dangerous?

In episode 40 of the Covert Contact podcast Phil Walter joins me to discuss some of the concepts laid out in his recent post on Blogs of War [https://blogsofwar.com/ungoverned-spaces-what-threat-do-they-pose/] about ungoverned spaces and how they’re viewed from a national security perspective. Phil challenges some of the

Covert Contact

Understanding the Limits of Intelligence and Counterterrorism

In episode 31 of the Covert Contact podcast I’m joined by Patrick Skinner. Patrick is a former CIA case officer who specializes in counter-terrorism issues. Patrick’s background in both law enforcement (US Air Marshals and the US Capitol Police) and intelligence has positioned him to understand the full

Covert Contact

The San Bernardino Attack, Small Scale Terrorism, and ISIS

The San Bernardino attack is an odd one in many ways but understanding it is critical as this model of small scale attacks, directed at soft targets, and using readily available weapons is going to be a persistent and growing threat.

Covert Contact

What You Are Getting Wrong About ISIS

Northeastern University professor and terrorism theorist Max Abrahms excels at poking holes in the conventional wisdom and he joins me again in episode 26 to do exactly that. I initially asked Max to discuss his recent piece in Harvard Business Review Why People Keep Saying, “That’s What the Terrorists

Covert Contact

Discussing The Paris Attacks and Europe’s Security Challenges with William J. Tucker

William J. Tucker joins me again for a high level look at the Paris attacks and the impact that instability, chiefly in Syria, will have on the region. Failing states and the mass migration of refugees will continue to put immense pressure on dozens of governments. There is no framework,

ISIS

The Return of the Gold Dinar: What is ISIS Up To?

ISIS is extremely proud of their latest video but, trust me, it’s a bit of a snorefest. But, to be fair, it’s also very different. The horrific violence they’re known for is there but only in comparatively small doses. Instead they’ve opted to take a lot

Covert Contact

Why Terrorism Fails: A Discussion with Max Abrahms

We know that terrorism succeeds at terrorizing its targets but does it help the groups behind it achieve their political goals? In this episode I’m joined by Northeastern University professor and terrorism theorist Max Abrahms who makes a persuasive case that terrorism does not succeed where other more selective

Terrorism

All Filler, No Killer: Robert Baer's "The Perfect Kill: 21 Laws for Assassins"

Theodore W. Weaver is a former Intelligence Officer within the CIA’s National Clandestine Service and the Directorate of Science and Technology. He has close to a decade working as a Special Agent with several Federal agencies and has worked against counter proliferation, human trafficking/smuggling, child exploitation, Intellectual Property

Covert Contact

Counterterrorism Challenges: Pondering Seemingly Unsolvable Problems with Phillip Smyth

The first Covert Contact interview features University of Maryland Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics researcher Phillip Smyth. Phillip is also well known for his Hizballah Cavalcade [http://jihadology.net/hizballah-cavalcade/] project on Jihadology [http://jihadology.net/] Phillip specializes in Shia militias, and we touch on that topic, but most of