Terrorism and al-Qaida

The announcement that al-Qaida terrorist group founder Osama Bin Laden was killed in a United States' military raid in Pakistan marked a milestone for the war on terror. Georgetown faculty experts in terrorism, intelligence and South Asian affairs are available to comment on and explain the implications of Bin Laden's death going forward.

Our Experts Include:

Bruce Hoffman, professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies, has been studying terrorism and insurgency for more than 30 years. He previously was corporate chair in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency at the RAND Corporation and scholar-in-residence for counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2004-06. Hoffman served as an adviser on counterterrorism to the Office of National Security Affairs, Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad and the Strategy, Plans, and Analysis Office at the Multi-National Forces headquarters in Baghdad.

Daniel Byman, professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and former director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies, served as a professional staff member with the 9/11 Commission and with the Joint 9/11 Inquiry Staff of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Currently a senior fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brooking Institution, he previously served as research director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the Rand Corporation. He has also written widely on a range of topics related to terrorism, international security and the Middle East.

Paul Pillar, director of graduate studies and core faculty member of Georgetown's Security Studies Program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, served 28 years in the United States intelligence community before retiring in 2005 as National Intelligence Office for the Near East and South Asia. He previously served as chief of analytic units at the CIA, covering portions of the Near East, Persian Gulf and South Asia. Pillar also served in the National Intelligence Council and has been executive assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Intelligence and Executive Assistant to then-Director of Central Intelligence William Webster. He also headed the assessments and information group of the DCI Counterterrorist Center and from 1997-99 was deputy chief.

C. Christine Fair, assistant professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, has researched on political and military affairs in South Asia and has commented and written on security issues dealing with Pakistan and Afghanistan. A member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations, she previously served as a senior political scientist with the RAND Corporation and as a political officer to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan in Kabul.