Post 9/11Terror/Intel Analysis

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor

After the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11th, the United States and its allies went to war against al-Qa’ida. The world watched as the most powerful military on the planet initiated operations to destroy al-Qa’ida and the terrorist organization’s Afghan hosts, the Taliban. Few at the time envisioned that—20 years later—the United States and its allies would not only still be fighting al-Qa’ida and off-shoots like ISIS, but would be doing so in dozens of countries and nearly every continent worldwide. Beyond the public’s view of this war, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) was drastically ramping up its efforts to develop actionable intelligence after the 9/11 attacks that would enable the U.S.-led Coalition to achieve their goals, namely preventing any additional terrorist attacks against the United States. “Never again” became more than just a motto for the IC. Analysts from across the IC have continued to work tirelessly around the clock to identify leads to key terrorist leaders and operatives, uncover plots, and discern broader trends to prevent the United States from strategic surprise. This course will shed light on the shadowy world of the IC since September 11th and answer questions such as, what does a terrorism intelligence analyst really do? How do analysts inform and enable decisions by policymakers and warfighters, including policies to prevent terrorist against the United States and operations to kill or capture some of the most elusive terrorists around the world? In this course, students will learn to analyze key terrorism issues during the last 20 years from the lens of an intelligence analyst—rather than as a policymaker, soldier, or scholar. This means students will think about and discuss issues consistent with IC standards and norms—including by being objective, non-partisan, and policy-outcome agnostic. As a result, although at times discussions might touch on whether a particular counterterrorism policy has been effective, that will not be the focus on the class. By the end of this course, students will gain a solid understanding of the tools and the “tradecraft” required to develop insightful and compelling terrorism intelligence analysis.