CU-Mansfield Students Attend Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence

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2. CU-Mansfield Students Attend Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence

Four CU-Mansfield honors students, Eli Kaufman, Tabbitha Piper, Dallas Schultz, and Annabelle Woodburn, and two political science professors, Drs. Jonathan Rothermel and Jeff Bosworth, attended the annual Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence in New York City from September 9-10.

The event is sponsored by The Soufan Center and was held at the Perelman Performing Arts Center just steps away from the 9/11 Memorial. The summit convened the top experts and practitioners in the field of counterterrorism. Mansfield alumnus Ali Soufan '94, CEO of The Soufan Group, personally invited the students and professors to the summit.

The two-day summit was both reflective and prospective. Panelists discussed how the threat of terrorism has evolved in the past 25 years. Some commended improvements to interagency collaboration and the continued need to work together with allies abroad. Others noted how terrorist networks have shifted to more fragmented and less ideological groups and even individuals (lone wolves).

Panelists included experts from a broad range of fields, including law enforcement, intelligence, politics, counterterrorism, academia, journalism, victim advocacy, and the military. Most speakers were personally involved in the response to 9/11.

Former Chief of Staff and Secretary of Transportation, Andrew Card, recounted the moment he interrupted his boss, President George W. Bush, at an elementary school to tell him a second plane had hit the second tower and that America was under attack. Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director, Leon Panetta, explained how a secret task force identified who they thought to be Osama bin Laden in a compound 110 miles inside Pakistan. Without 100% certainty, President Obama ultimately decided to green light the successful mission to apprehend Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

Other notable speakers included former Secretaries of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff and Alejandro Mayorkas, Senator Chris Blumenthal (D-CT), former acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, and Peter Bergen (CNN analyst).

Political science major Dallas Schultz was intrigued by the panel that debated decisions to pursue so-called Article III prosecutions of terrorists in federal courts versus those trials conducted by military tribunals for those detained at Guantanamo Bay. He said, "Decisions about prosecuting Al Qaeda terrorists were something I knew little about but was excited to learn more, especially since I plan to attend law school next year."

Tabbitha Piper, a political science major, learned that the US failed to imagine the unimaginable 25 years ago, but today, the US is much better equipped to work together in the fight against terrorism. She described meeting Ali Soufan, who was once a student at Mansfield just like herself, as "inspiring."

Dr. Rothermel said, "We are grateful to Ali for providing our Mansfield students with this unique opportunity to hear from leading experts in counterterrorism and to witness such a timely and highly relevant discussion." Mr. Soufan met personally with the Mansfield contingent.

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• Academics

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• Honors College