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NCITE researcher kicks off foreign fighters project with first public panel

Learn more about a complicated problem: bringing back the spouses and children of people who went overseas to fight for foreign terrorist organizations. NCITE, with partner the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University, will hold a panel discussion as part of a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate.

  • date: 02/02/22
  • time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
This is an event flyer that has names of the researchers and their photos. Austin Doctor, Mary Beth Altier, Deborah Margolin, Moustafa Ayad, Joana Cook

Foundations of the Foreign Fighter Problem

Investigating Blind Spots Relating to Gender, Minors, and Families

The Program on Extremism at The George Washington University and the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) will hold a virtual event on a pressing subject that's generally off the public's radar.

Under a study funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, NCITE and GWU's POE will probe into best practices for resettling a challenging population.

Almost three years after the Islamic State's territorial collapse in Syria and Iraq, questions remain regarding the men, women, and children from around the world who traveled to join the conflict. This event seeks to focus on discussing the scope of the foreign fighter problem and providing insight into some of the major existing knowledge gaps relating to gender, minors, and families.

Devorah Margolin, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Senior Research Fellow at The George Washington Program on Extremism, will moderate a discussion.

Speakers will include:

Mary Beth Altier, Associate Professor at New York University's Center for Global Affairs.

Moustafa Ayad, Executive Director for Africa, the Middle East and Asia at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).

Joana Cook, Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Political Violence in the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University, Senior Project Manager at ICCT, & Editor-in-Chief of the ICCT journal.

Austin Doctor, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha, a member of the executive committee for the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, (NCITE) a DHS Center of Excellence, & a nonresident fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Register for this event here.

This event will also be live streamed to the Program on Extremism’s YouTube Channel.

Learn more about the study here.