Thursday 21 April, 2011, 5.00pm
Seminar Room 4, New Arts Building

Terrorism Warning: More than just ready, steady, duck

Seminar by
Dr Kenneth A. Duncan

Dr. Kenneth A. Duncan is a former senior United States diplomat with over a quarter century of experience in foreign relations, border security, intelligence, and international terrorism. Before he retired from the Foreign Service, he was the Chairman of the Interagency Intelligence Committee on Terrorism; as such he served as the National Intelligence Officer for Terrorism and was responsible for production, coordination and dissemination of all Intelligence Community terrorism-warning products. Dr. Duncan holds a PhD from St Andrews in Modern History and has taught at courses on terrorism at the United States Coast Guard Academy and Yale University. He is now Senior Adjunct Professor of Security Studies and Terrorism at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany.

Abstract

Warning is a key intelligence function in support of the state’s response to terrorism, yet for most intelligence agencies it is only one of many functions and for this reason may not be their priority. As a result it sometimes is overlooked by practitioners and commentators alike. Yet warning is the one aspect of intelligence that has the greatest direct connection with civil society – not only officials responsible for homeland security, but the general public as well. This seminar will discuss the nature of warning, its relationship to crisis responders and managers, and the issues this raises.