Systems Approach
to Terrorism

July 15-16, 2002

George Washington University
Cloyd Heck Marvin Center
800 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20052

Countering Terrorism

Presented By:

University of Pennsylvania

Much has happened since September 11th to reassess societal and enterprise level vulnerabilities and responses to terrorism. These efforts have been fragmented and lack the comprehensiveness of a systems solution.

The systems approach to terrorism involves looking at it through different lenses, in its proper global context, and deriving effective activities for governments and international enterprises and agencies. Many current counter-terrorism efforts are reactive in nature, and quite properly so given the events of last year. However, these can have a tendency to exacerbate the situation, to be incomplete and to leave gaps at boundaries and intersections of our governmental, supra-governmental, business and societal systems. The organizers of this conference suggest that a systems orientation should be applied to designing and developing new attitudes and "out-of-the-box" approaches to effectively counter terrorist activities globally.

Why Attend?

The conference will provide an opportunity for leading thinkers and practitioners from Government, industry and academia to examine how the nation can construct an effective posture for countering terrorism for the long-as well as short-term, based on systems thinking models. It proceeds through four phases:

  • examining the complex set of interacting causes of terrorism;
  • assessing vulnerabilities from terrorists' points of view;
  • responding to then innovatively; and
  • synthesizing recommendations for action.

The conference is designed to encourage discussion and debate directed at developing new ideas and recommendations for those who must design security policies, strategies, and institutions , for the public.



Conference Point of Contact

Michelle Bourke
Phone: (703) 247-9473
Email: mbourke@afei.org

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