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About TNT
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Ongoing projects include: the Open Source, Trusted Information Network for Counterterrorism; the Private Sector Advisory Group (exploring links between the private sector, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Homeland Security, among others); roundtables on terrorism, intelligence and transnational threats; and, a monthly newsletter – the TNT Update – that provides little-publicized news about terrorism developments around the world. TNT staff brief hundreds of delegations of ranking intelligence, law enforcement, and other government officials, as well as leading academic and NGO leaders from over 50 nations who visit CSIS every year. These briefings take place at CSIS and overseas. TNT briefings and issue-centric roundtables range from narcotics trafficking and terror financing, to biometrics and shoulder-fired missile threats to aviation security. TNT staff also comment frequently on these subjects to the media.
TNT’s agenda assesses the breadth and impact of emerging, cross-border dangers largely immune to traditional countermeasures, and is a leader in assessing the impact of the convergence of transnational terrorism and transnational crime. The Al Qaeda effect has transformed disparate radical Islamic actors into autonomous operational groups that aim to overthrow secular leaders and weaken the United States, its allies, and the global economy. Terrorist support comes from a global, politico-religious, ideological movement made stronger and wider since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March of 2003. TNT’s analysis of these constantly evolving threats is crucial for policymakers and leaders seeking to disrupt terrorists’ global operations and dismantle their worldwide support network. The underlying causes of terrorism are considered in depth.
Prize-winning journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave and his deputy Tom Sanderson lead TNT and are frequent contributors to national and international media. The program also benefits from the advice of Judge William H. Webster. The former CIA and FBI director chairs a high-level TNT steering committee of four former directors of central intelligence, two former FBI directors, and several other current and former public and private-sector leaders. John MacGaffin, the former Associate Deputy Director for Operations at the CIA and former senior advisor to the Director of the FBI, serves as senior advisor to the project. Jeff Jonas, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist of IBM’s Entity Analytic Solutions, serves as TNT senior associate.
TNT leads an innovative, non-governmental trusted information network that exploits open source (publicly available) information and individual expertise to help improve government counterterrorism efforts. Traditional intelligence collection alone – emphasizing secret means, technical or human – will not meet the challenge of extremist terror groups that are profoundly difficult to comprehend, collect against, penetrate, deter, and defeat. TNT’s active network consists of fifteen international specialists in a wide variety of fields broadly related to terrorism. The objective is to produce an open source-based study on the roles, activities, and impact of Islamist extremists in Europe and the ramifications for North America. Emphasis will be placed on, among other issues, Islamist recruitment, criminal networks, the Internet, and the impact of those extremists returning to Europe after fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Chechnya. The second goal of this effort is to highlight the network methodology that made the first goal possible. The work is timely – an unknown number of Islamic militants from Europe joined the Iraq insurgency, and are returning to a tense and sometimes hostile environment, with well-honed urban combat skills.
Thirty senior corporate security executives and former ranking policy officials from the CIA, FBI, and DHS constitute TNT’s Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG). TNT conducts information-sharing sessions between United States intelligence and homeland security officials and the private sector, and hosts the annual “Transnational Threats Audit,” which surveys terrorist threats for a wider audience.
TNT conducts assessments on terrorism, homeland security, the terror-crime nexus, and maritime security, as well as emerging threats and areas of instability for corporations representing key sectors of the economy. The impact of United States and other nations’ foreign policies on the terror threat constitutes a core component of TNT analysis and commentary. The project also addresses the ever-faster technological revolution and its effect on terrorist capabilities and on the ability of governments to counter these new threats.
TNT seeks, in summary, to provide context, understanding, and analysis of numerous cross-border threats that challenge democratic governments in ways that states never did. TNT works closely with governments to ensure that innovative ideas, activities and policies are considered and tested sooner rather than later. Today’s threats, unlike our primary adversary during the Cold War, require more than ever a rapid and creative collaboration between governmental and non-governmental expertise to help ensure national and global security. TNT is a leader in this effort.
Arnaud de Borchgrave
Director
Phone: 202-775-3282
GSM mobile: 202-361-2859
Fax: 202-785-1688
adeborchgrave@csis.org | Thomas M. Sanderson
Deputy Director
Phone: 202-775-3279
GSM mobile: 202-460-3347
Fax: 202-785-1688
tsanderson@csis.org |
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