Terrorism: The Current Threat

Michael A. Sheehan will present a review of the current threat of terrorism to the United States, with special emphasis on Afghanistan and Iran.

Ambassador Sheehan — whose office develops, coordinates and implements U.S. counterterrorism policy — is expected to report that the organization of worldwide terrorism is shifting toward loosely-affiliated ad hoc groups that breed in weakly-governed and sympathetic regions and are supported by state sponsors.

The counterterrorism coordinator is also expected to outline how the U.S. should respond to the threat of terrorism. The title of Ambassador Sheehan’s report will be “Post-Millennium Terrorism Review,” recalling the heightened State Department warnings about terrorist threats just before the arrival of the new millennium.

Following Ambassador Sheehan’s report, a panel of intelligence and terrorism experts will discuss and elaborate on his assessment and consider options for U.S. policy. The event is part of the on-going Brookings policymaker series.