February 25, 2013

Vol. 28 , No. 09   


View Entire Issue (Vol. 28 , No. 09)

Al Qaeda and the Future of Terrorism
BRUCE HOFFMAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

The killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 clearly inflicted a crushing blow on al Qaeda. However, nearly two years later, it is still not clear it has been a lethal one. Similarly, while the mostly non-violent, mass protests of the 2011 “Arab Spring” were successful in overturning hated despots,—thus appearing to discredit al Qaeda’s longstanding message that only violence and jihad could achieve the same ends—serious terrorist threats remain. New ones have also surfaced—and are perhaps even increasing—across the region. This presentation will assess both the current state of the al Qaeda movement and potential threat it will continue to pose in the future.

Professor Bruce Hoffman has been studying terrorism and insurgency for nearly forty years. He is professor in Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service where he is also the Director of both the Center for Security Studies and of the Security Studies Program. Professor Hoffman previously held the Corporate Chair in Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency at the RAND Corporation and was also Director of RAND’s Washington, D.C. Office. He was Scholar-in-Residence for Counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency between 2004 and 2006; an adviser on counterterrorism to the Office of National Security Affairs, Coalition Provisional Authority, Baghdad, Iraq in 2004, and from 2004-2005 an adviser on counterinsurgency to the Strategy, Plans, and Analysis Office at Multi-National Forces-Iraq Headquarters, Baghdad. Professor Hoffman was also an adviser to the Iraq Study Group. In November 1994, the Director of Central Intelligence awarded Professor Hoffman the United States Intelligence Community Seal Medallion the highest level of commendation given to a non-government employee. He is the author of Inside Terrorism (2006). His forthcoming book, Anonymous Soldiers: Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Palestine and the Rise of Israel will be published in 2014.