Terrorism and counter-terrorism will headline the second Raleigh International Spy Conference at the North Carolina Museum of History on September 1-3.
At the end of the Cold War, the consensus was that intelligence and intelligence services were no longer critical to national security, conference officials said. In the past few years, “holy terror,” as expert Christopher Andrew said at last year’s conference, has pushed the United States and its allies into a worldwide conflict requiring “steely nerves, a modern and well-equipped and dexterous armed service, subtle yet firm diplomatic relations—and information, the key to success in modern conflict.”
The conference is entitled “Spies, Lies and Deception: From Pearl Harbor Through the Age of Terrorism.” It will begin with intelligence revelations about the attack on Pearl Harbor, considered to be the first act of state-sponsored terrorism in the 20th century, and continue through the rise and fall of the Irish Republican Army, the emergency of Middle East-based terror groups, the establishment of domestic terrorist organizations in the West, to today’s major players: Hamas and al Qaeda and suicide bombers.
Founded by Metro magazine Editor Bernie Reeves, a spy history enthusiast, the conference features a lineup of experts. Among them are:
• Dr. Bruce Hoffman, the keynote speaker. Dr. Hoffman is director of the RAND Corp.’s Washington D.C. office, Rand’s vice president for external affairs, and senior fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy. He formerly was senior adviser on counter-terrorism Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. He has been awarded the U.S. Intelligence Community Seal Medallion.
• Kim Cragin, international policy analyst and expert on political violence.
• Tom Kimmel, retired FBI agent and the grandson of Adm. Husband Kimmel, the naval commander at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Cragin discovered through Venona decryptions that Soviet agents in the United States obscured vital information that would have warned the United States about the attack.
• Dr. James Leutze, former professor of military history and recently retired chancellor of UNC-Wilmington. Dr. Leutze will discuss terrorism and intelligence from a global perspective.
• Dennis Pluchinsky, threat analyst and professor of international terrorism at George Mason University, Mary Washington College, James Madison University, and George Washington University. He is a contributing editor to the international journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and contributes articles and commentary on terrorism regularly in national publications.
• Nigel West, former member of Parliament, intelligence community expert, and the author of 26 books on modern espionage and deception, returns from last year’s conference. He will explain British intelligence efforts in combating terrorist activities in Northern Ireland.
Presentations scheduled for the conference are “terrorism and intelligence: a global perspective,” by Dr. Leutze; “the Pearl Harbor attack and Sept. 11 compared,” by Kimmel; “countering terrorism using counterintelligence techniques: the British experience in Northern Ireland,” by West; “educating students and the public on terrorism and terrorists and terrorism analysts-mind games,” by Pluchinsky; “political violence and suicide bombers,” by Cragin; and “the continuing threat of al Qaeda and world terrorism,” by Dr. Hoffman.
More information is available at the event website.
Wagner is editor of Carolina Journal.