Securing global cities

On March 16, the Foreign Policy program at Brookings released a new report titled “Securing global cities: Best practices, innovations, and the path ahead,” which examines the intersection of security and economic growth in metropolitan areas around the world.

This launch event featured a distinguished panel that included the report authors, General Raymond Odierno, former chief of staff of the U.S. Army and senior advisor at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, who was joined in discussion by The Honorable Mitchell J. Landrieu, mayor of New Orleans, His Excellency Juan Carlos Pinzón, ambassador of Colombia to the United States, and homeland security and counterterrorism expert Fran Townsend. The report is part of the Global Cities Initiative, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase, which was expanded in 2016 to include the Securing Global Cities project. The panel was moderated by Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and director of the Global Cities Initiative.

Through conversations with more than 100 practitioners, academics, civic leaders, and government officials over the course of the past year—dialogues that took place in a dozen cities in five countries—the authors have identified several best practices and principles that should inform the urban security mission. The project examines different types of threats—from terrorism and international criminal networks, to gangs and natural disasters—and explores the various tools that governments can deploy to address these diverse and complex problems.

JPMorgan Chase is a donor to the Brookings Institution. Brookings recognizes that the value it provides is in its absolute commitment to quality, independence, and impact. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment and the analysis and recommendations are solely determined by the scholars.