September 11 fundamentally transformed United States foreign policy and shook the country as a whole. This transformation and shock was…
Combating Terrorism in Iraq and Syria: Stephen Kontos and the Counter-ISIS Coalition
In the midst of war, terrorism, and instability, Stephen Kontos was tasked with uniting a coalition to combat one of…
Responding to Terrorism in Saudi Arabia: Memories of a Public Affairs Officer
When terrorists struck Americans in Saudi Arabia in 2004, Washington and a global public wanted answers. In June, Al-Qaeda kidnapped…
USAID: Working With State and DOD on Counter Terrorism – and with Oliver North in Honduras
Elizabeth Kvitashvili’s USAID career took her from Afghanistan to Honduras to Russia. She led efforts to provide humanitarian assistance amidst crisis…
“Years of Lead” — Domestic Terrorism and Italy’s Red Brigades
Beginning in 1970 and spanning over a decade, the “Brigate Rosse” (Red Brigades) and other smaller groups incited a wave…
A Blind Eye — Fighting Terrorism in the 1980s
The U.S. focus on terrorism began to intensify in the late 1970s and 80s. However, it was often difficult to…
Combining Forces to Counter Terrorism — The Birth of S/CT
U.S. inter-agency coordination on countering terrorism was limited, for bureaucratic and technical reasons, prior to the mid-1980s. As hijackings and…
Vladimir Putin’s “Icy Cold Glare”
After George W. Bush’s 2006 meeting on the tarmac with Vladimir Putin, he famously declared “I looked the man in…
Trying to Negotiate with the Iranians
Elizabeth Jones became the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan in 1995. On July 3, 1988 an Iran Air flight was making…
Pan Am and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978
In 1978, the Carter administration passed the Airline Deregulation Act, which deregulated the airline industry, stripping away federal control of…