CSINT co-hosted an Academic Workshop with the Political Violence and Security Research Cluster. The event spotlighted the work of American University Ph.D. Candidate Matthew Timmerman. This workshop event, held on November 30, 2021, explored Mr. Timmerman's working paper entitled Domestic Political Survival and Foreign Military Intervention and provided an in-depth and interactive experience for both our speaker and attendees. This event was held virtually, but due to the internal nature it was not recorded for public viewing. 

CSINT co-hosted an Academic Workshop with the Political Violence and Security Research Cluster. The event spotlighted the work of American University Ph.D. Candidate Eleni Ekmektsioglou. This workshop event, held on November 2, 2021, dove into Ms. Ekmektsioglou's working paper entitled Seductive but Risky: Explaining the Determinants Behind Military Organizations' Reactions to Emerging Technologies and provided an in-depth and interactive experience for both our speaker and attendees. This event was held virtually, but due to the internal nature it was not recorded for public use. 

About this event

This CSINT Conversations was held on Monday, October 11, 2021 from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, in which CSINT Director, Prof. Audrey Kurth Cronin engaged in a conversation with Clint Watts, a counterterrorism, cybersecurity and homeland security expert and author of Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News . This in-depth dialogue explores the rise of social media influence, including misinformation campaigns, fake news, and electronic espionage operations and how we can protect against them. To read our CSINT Book Review on Messing with the Enemy, written by Nicholas Davis, click here. Additionally, questions were fielded by attendees during this live session. Click HERE for recorded webinar.

About our Guest:

Clint Watts is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. He is also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing his first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint’s tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. This research led Clint to testify before four different Senate committees in 2017 and 2018 regarding Russia’s information warfare campaign against the U.S. and the West. Clint’s writing has appeared in a range of publications to include the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Politico, Lawfare, War On The Rocks and the Huffington Post. Before becoming a consultant, Clint served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent, as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), as a consultant to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) and National Security Branch (NSB), and as an analyst supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command.

This CSINT Conversations was held on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 from 10:00 - 11:30 AM, in which CSINT Director, Prof. Audrey Kurth Cronin had an open dialogue with Tim Wilson, historian and author of Killing Strangers: How Political Violence Became Modern. The engaging conversation addressed the development of political violence, techniques and forms of contemporary political violence, and the changing roles of technology and communication. Questions submitted by attendees during this session were also addressed. Click HERE for recorded webinar.

About our Guest:

Dr. Tim Wilson is a notable historian and the Director of the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) at the University of St Andrews, a position assumed in 2016. As the Director of Europe’s oldest research centre devoted solely to the academic study of terrorism, he is frequently invited to comment upon terrorism in the media. His most recent book, Killing Strangers: How Political Violence Became Modern (Oxford University Press, 2020), explores why militant violence in Western societies has taken the forms that it has over the past 150 years. His first book Frontiers of Violence – an ambitious comparison of violence in the contested borderlands of Ulster and Upper Silesia between 1918 and 1922 – was nominated for the Royal Historical Society’s prestigious Whitfield Prize. Dr. Wilson’s research interests and media appearances range widely focusing on the past, present and future of terrorism and political violence. He is especially interested in why such horrors take the particular forms that they do.

During this event, CSINT Associate faculty member, Professor Joe Young moderates a panel discussion on counterterrorism. The conversation explores where counterterrorism stood before 9/11, how counterterrorism has changed during the last two decades, and what it may look like in the future. Panelists include Audrey Kurth Cronin, SIS distinguished professor and Director of AU’s Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology (CSINT); Mubin Shaikh, former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative; and Aaron Zelin, Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and founder of Jihadology.net. An audience Q&A follows the conversation. The event was held virtually on September 8, 2021. CLICK HERE for recorded webinar. 

Our Panelists:

Audrey Kurth Cronin joined the faculty of the School of International Service (SIS) in August 2016. She is the founding director of the Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology (CSINT) at AU. Her career has combined academic positions and government service. She was a faculty member and director of the core course on War and Statecraft at the U.S. National War College (2007-2011). Before that, she was Academic Director of Studies for the Oxford/Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War at Oxford University (Nuffield College), from 2005 to 2007. Prior to that, she was Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service, responsible for advising Members of Congress in the aftermath of 9/11. An award-winning author, her best-known book is How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns. Her latest book, Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow’s Terrorists, analyzes the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies, especially their use by individuals, terrorists, insurgents, militias, proxy armies, and other private actors.

Mubin Shaikh is a former Muslim supremacist who deradicalized after the 9/11 attacks and after spending two years studying Arabic and Islamic Studies in Damascus, Syria. Returning to Canada, he was recruited to work undercover for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, where he worked multiple CLASSIFIED infiltration operations. He traversed to become a Police Agent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) in the so-called “Toronto 18" terrorism case of 2006. Ultimately, eleven aspiring violent extremists were convicted after five legal hearings over four years ending in 2010, in which Shaikh was the main Fact Witness. He was subsequently involved with the ISIS social media boom upon infiltrating their networks online during their heyday between 2012-2017. He is currently a professor in the School of Public Safety at Seneca College, and a Counter Extremism Specialist for the renowned NGO, Parents for Peace in the United States. His life and work are incorporated into a permanent exhibit at the new International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. under, “Preventing Terror.”

Aaron Y. Zelin is the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a visiting research scholar in the Department of Politics at Brandeis University, and founder of the widely acclaimed and cited website Jihadology.net. He is the author of the book, Your Sons Are At Your Service: Tunisia's Missionaries of Jihad. Zelin's research focuses on Sunni Arab jihadi groups in North Africa and Syria as well as the trend of foreign fighting, online jihadism, and jihadi governance.

Joseph Young (moderator) is a professor at American University's School of International Service and School of Public Affairs. His interests relate to the cross-national causes and consequences of political violence. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles across academic disciplines, including political science, economics, criminology, and international studies. He has been invited to speak to organizations in the defense community and has consulted on a Department of Defense initiative focusing on countering violent extremism. The National Science Foundation and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) have funded his research. Professor Young will be releasing a book about torture and counterterrorism in July 2020.

This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology (CSINT) and AU's School of Public Affairs.

CSINT co-hosted an Academic Workshop with the Political Violence and Security Research Cluster. The event spotlighted the work of Cornell University Ph.D. Candidate Julie George. This workshop event, held on March 26, 2021, explored the topic of emerging technologies and provided an in-depth and interactive experience for both our speaker and attendees. This event was held virtually, but due to the internal nature it was not recorded. 

This CSINT Conversation focused on the recent Russian hacks, the continued importance of internet security, and our societable vulnerablities to ongoing breaches. Director Audrey Kurth Cronin engaged in an in-depth discussion with internationally renowned security technologist, Bruce Schneier as a part of our speaker series. Schneier is a public-interest technologist, fellow and lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School, a board member of EFF, and the Chief of Security Architecture at Inrupt, Inc. The event was held virtually on March 2, 2021. CLICK HERE for recorded webinar.

About our Guest: Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a “security guru” by the Economist. He is the New York Times best-selling author of 14 books -- including Click Here to Kill Everybody -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter Crypto-Gram and blog Schneier on Security are read by over 250,000 people. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University; a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School; a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, AccessNow, and the Tor Project; and an advisory board member of EPIC and VerifiedVoting.org. He is the Chief of Security Architecture at Inrupt, Inc.

This CSINT Conversation took place between Director Audrey Kurth Cronin and Jon Lindsay about his book, Information Technology and Military Power, which tackles how the dissemination of information in the military is almost completely achieved through digital systems, and how these systems can impede the process of communication within the same organizations they are supposed to be aiding. Lindsay, is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. The event was held virtually on February 16, 2021. CLICK HERE for recorded webinar.

About our Guest: Jon Lindsay is Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Global Affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Information Technology and Military Power (Cornell University Press, 2020) and co-editor of China and Cybersecurity: Espionage, Strategy, and Politics in the Digital Domain (Oxford University Press, 2015), with Tai Ming Cheung and Derek Reveron, and Cross-Domain Deterrence: Strategy in an Era of Complexity (Oxford University Press, 2019), with Erik Gartzke, as well as publications in international relations, intelligence studies, and the sociology of technology. He is currently working on a book project called Age of Deception: Technology, Intelligence, and Control in International Relations. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in computer science and B.S. in symbolic systems from Stanford University. He has also served in the U.S. Navy with assignments in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

CSINT Conversations host a conversation around the publication Ten Years In: Implementing Strategic Approaches to Cyberspace, which examines a series of challenges for U.S. Cyber Command on the occasion of its tenth anniversary. The book includes essays from current Cyber Command officers as well as scholars who study the various uses of cyberspace for national security. The CSINT Conversation panel includes several of the authors, moderated by CSINT Co-director Josh Rovner. Speakers include Dr. Jackie Schneider of Stanford University, Dr. Michael Warner of Cyber Command, Dr. Erica Borghard of the Atlantic Council, and Professor Nina Kollars of the Naval War College Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute. The event was held virtually on February 1, 2021. CLICK HERE for recorded webinar.

Our Panelists:

Prof. Josh Rovner

● Prof. Joshua Rovner is Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University. Dr. Rovner is the author of Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Cornell University Press, 2011); and the co-editor of Chaos in the Liberal Order: The Trump Presidency and International Politics in the 21st Century (Columbia University Press, 2018). In addition to many articles and book chapters on intelligence and strategy, he writes a regular column at War on the Rocks. Dr. Rovner is the Managing Editor of H-Diplo's International Security Studies Forum, and Deputy Editor of The Journal of Strategic Studies. In 2018 and 2019 he served as Scholar-in-Residence at the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

Dr. Jacquelyn Schneider

● Dr. Jacquelyn Schneider is a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, national security, and political psychology with a special interest in cybersecurity, unmanned technologies, and Northeast Asia. In addition to her position at Stanford, she is also a non-resident fellow at the Naval War College's Cyber and Innovation Policy Institute and a senior policy advisor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. She has a BA from Columbia University, MA from Arizona State University, and PhD from George Washington University.

Dr. Michael Warner

● Dr. Michael Warner serves as Command Historian at U.S. Cyber Command. He has written and lectured on cyber and intelligence history, theory, and reform and teaches as an adjunct professor at American University. His forthcoming book, The Use of Force for State Power: History and Future, is coauthored with John Childress. His most recent book, The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History, was published in 2014. Other writings include “Intelligence in Cyber—and Cyber in Intelligence,” in Understanding Cyber Conflict, ed. Perkovich and Levite (Georgetown, 2017); “Notes on the Evolution of Computer Security Policy in the U.S. Government, 1965–2003,” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 37, no. 2 (April–June 2015); and “Cybersecurity: A Pre-history,” Intelligence and National Security 27, no. 5 (October 2012). Dr. Warner sits on the board of editors of the peer-reviewed journal Intelligence and National Security.

Dr. Erica Borghard

● Dr. Erica Borghard is a resident senior fellow with the New American Engagement Initiative at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Erica’s own work addresses US grand strategy, with a particular focus on the strategic implications of emerging technologies; public-private partnerships and resilience; and covert action and proxy warfare. Erica continues to serve as a senior director on the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Erica has published on topics ranging from grand strategy, cyber strategy and policy, coercion and military intervention, and international crisis bargaining. Erica received her PhD in Political Science from Columbia University. She is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct research fellow at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.

Professor Nina Kollars

● Dr. Nina Kollars is Associate Professor in the Cyber and Innovation Policy Institute at the U.S. Naval War College. She is a senior adjunct scholar at the Center for a New American Security; a fellow at the Brute Krulak Center at Marine Corps University; and an editorial board member for the Texas National Security Review. She publishes in both scholarly and policy-facing outlets on cybersecurity, hackers, and military innovation. Kollars is an active speaker and volunteer at hacker conferences to include BSides, ShmooCon, LayerOne, and DefCon. Her own hacker project "Confessions of a Nespresso Money Mule" was featured at DefCon 27. Kollars is also part of the executive board of the Educational Wargaming Cooperative.

This CSINT Conversation focused on the December 2020 revelation of the SolarWinds hack, an alleged Russian espionage campaign targeting private firms and government agencies, which has led to grave concerns among lawmakers and industry leaders. Hosted by CSINT Director Audrey Kurth Cronin, the panelists included CSINT Co-Director Josh Rovner; Dr Alexi Drew, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College, London; and Dr. Ben Buchanan, author of The Hacker and the State. The event was held virtually on January 26, 2021. CLICK HERE for recorded webinar.

Our Panelists:

Prof. Josh Rovner

Prof. Joshua Rovner is Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University. Dr. Rovner is the author of Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Cornell University Press, 2011); and the co-editor of Chaos in the Liberal Order: The Trump Presidency and International Politics in the 21st Century (Columbia University Press, 2018). In addition to many articles and book chapters on intelligence and strategy, he writes a regular column at War on the Rocks. Dr. Rovner is the Managing Editor of H-Diplo's International Security Studies Forum, and Deputy Editor of The Journal of Strategic Studies. In 2018 and 2019 he served as Scholar-in-Residence at the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

Dr. Alexi Drew

Alexi Drew is a research associate at The Policy Institute (King's College London), an associate fellow at the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), and an executive manager at the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (EECRI). Her work focuses upon emerging technologies, the international norms surrounding them, and their impact upon international relations and geopolitics. Dr Drew was awarded her PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London and her thesis examined cyber capabilities and norm construction methods. She has since worked on a post-doctoral project examining the role of social media on conflict escalation funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and has researched and published on the role of Emerging Technologies in China’s foreign policy.

Dr. Ben Buchanan

Dr. Ben Buchanan teaches at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he is a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology. He was previously a fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is the author of The Hacker and the State: Cyber Attacks and the New Normal of Geopolitics (2020) and The Cybersecurity Dilemma (2017).

The Center launched it's new series CSINT Conversations with an open dialogue between Tom Parker, author of Avoiding the Terrorist Trap: Why Respecting Human Rights is the Key to Defeating Terrorism and Center Director, Audrey Kurth Cronin addressing the flaws in in our counter-terrorist policies, exploring current research on the matter, and discussing possible strategies for a more effective approach to overcome terrorism. Tom Parker was Chief of Party of a European Union project providing assistance to the Office of the National Security in Baghdad, Iraq. He has previously served as an adviser on human rights and counter-terrorism to United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) where he was the lead drafter of the Secretary General’s Plan of Action for Preventing Violent Extremism, as well as the Policy Director for Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Human Rights for Amnesty International USA, a war crimes investigator for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) working in the field in Bosnia and Kosovo, and an Intelligence Officer in the British Security Service (MI5). Tom has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses on international terrorism at Yale, Bard College, and the National Defense University at Fort Bragg. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (BSc), the University of Leiden (LLM) and Brown (AM), and has held research fellowships at Yale and Duke universities. The event was held virtually on January 21, 2021. CLICK HERE for the recorded webinar.