Sovereign Challenge

Network for Sovereign Nation Collaboration

Monday, February 6, 2012
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Ambassadors Roundtable Series

Our adversaries are very different from those we encountered during the Cold War. Homeland security does not start at our shores. Technology – in particular the Internet – has created a borderless world that is working to our adversaries’ advantage. Today, the most significant threat to our nation, as well as our allies, stems from a global terrorist movement, underpinned by a "jihadist"/Salafist ideology. This movement is a transnational insurgency best exemplified by al Qaeda but including other groups ascribing to the same ideology.

Transnational threats require transnational strategies if they are to be countered successfully. While it is prudent for the United States to take steps to secure citizens’ safety by hardening our infrastructure and building preparedness and response capabilities, we must at the same time understand terrorist networks and the contexts within which they are operating, so that we can effectively inform counter strategies. In short, we need our own “network of networks.”

To help build this network, HSPI hosts its Ambassadors Roundtable Series on International Collaboration to Combat Terrorism and Insurgencies (ART) to engage ambassadors, heads of state and cabinet level officials in an ongoing dialogue discussing current and future counterterrorism efforts on a regional or country-specific basis. Since the creation of the ART Series, HSPI has hosted over two dozen ambassadors and senior foreign officials in forums that engage the diplomatic community, Congress, the Administration, the media, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, and others.

2010 Ambassador Roundtables

2009 Ambassador Roundtables