New Publications
An Opportunity for Renewal: Revitalizing the United Nations counterterrorism program
September 2010 – By James Cockayne, Alistair Millar, and Jason Ipe
 On 8 September 2010 the United Nations General Assembly will review the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. By the end of 2010 the UN Security Council will, as required by Resolution 1805 (2008), conduct a “comprehensive consideration of [the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate’s (CTED)] work prior to the expiration of its mandate.” These processes provide an occasion for critical reflection on the state and direction of the United Nations’ counterterrorism program as a whole and an important opportunity to secure and enhance the positive momentum that many perceive in the UN’s counterterrorism work over the last two years.
To help inform those review processes the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation has prepared an independent strategic assessment of the UN’s counterterrorism efforts over the two years since the Strategy and CTED were last reviewed. The final report is based on consultations with dozens of member state officials, UN officials, civil society representatives, and academic experts, as well as a two-day retreat for key stakeholders. It argues that the UN system should use the year ahead to visibly push the UN’s counterterrorism program out beyond UN headquarters in New York and Vienna, into the field; emphasize the preventive and holistic aspects of the UN’s vision of counterterrorism; provide a fresh start on human rights; and deepen the UN’s partnerships with other stakeholders. It includes 25 specific Recommendations for revitalizing the UN’s counterterrorism program in the year ahead, leading up to the 10-year anniversaries of 9/11 and the adoption of Resolution 1373 (2001), and the five-year anniversary of the adoption of the Strategy, in September 2011.
An Opportunity for Renewal was launched at a luncheon at the International Peace Institute on 7 September 2010, on the eve of the General Assembly’s review of the implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
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Implementing the UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy in West Africa September 2010 – By Jason Ipe, James Cockayne, and Alistair Millar
 Although for many countries in West Africa terrorism is not a new threat there is heightened attention to radicalization in the region. The attempted bombing of an aircraft landing in Detroit by a Nigerian youth on Christmas Day 2009 and the perceived flow through the Sahel of terrorist, kidnapping/hostage-taking, drug smuggling, and other transnational criminal activities have caused concern in the subregion and beyond. States in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region are increasingly aware that terrorism is a threat to the security and economic development of the subregion as a whole and that it requires a more coordinated subregional response. But West Africa lacks both a formal subregional counterterrorism framework and a mechanism for facilitating cooperation and capacity-building activities to deal with the growing threat.
This report makes the case for West African states and partners to develop counterterrorism capacities and cooperation in the subregion, using the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy as their point of departure and working closely with and through ECOWAS. It concludes with a set of action-oriented recommendations that outline steps the ECOWAS Commission, ECOWAS member states, and their partners could take to develop a subregional counterterrorism framework and mechanism, and other recommendations for strengthening counterterrorism cooperation in West Africa and between the subregion and external partners.
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Implementing the UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy in North Africa
September 2010 – By James Cockayne, Jason Ipe, and Alistair Millar
 The states of North Africa have each had to confront their own unique struggles against terrorism. Since 2001 the threat in the subregion has evolved from a network of nationally-based organizations focused on the overthrow of local regimes to an increasingly regionalized and externally-oriented network of organizations. Although North African regimes have developed robust counterterrorism capabilities, the cross-border cooperation essential to effectively countering these more recent transnational threats remains minimal. This report provides an overview of the evolving threat in North Africa and the Sahel and analyzes how states in the subregion working with external partners, including the United Nations, European Union (EU), and United States, can improve subregional counterterrorism-related cooperation. In particular, this report argues that because of its universal membership and distance from the politics of the region, the United Nations can play a unique role in catalyzing this cooperation.
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Policy Brief – Terrorism and Other Transnational Threats in the Sahel: What Role for the EU?
September 2010 – By Thomas Renard
 In the sixth in a series of policy briefs by the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation and collaborating experts, Thomas Renard, Senior Associate Fellow in the Brussels office offers his thoughts on improving regional counterterrorism cooperation in the Sahel and in particular the positive role that the EU might play.
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“Crime, Corruption and Violent Economies”, in Mats Berdal and Achim Wennmann, eds., Ending Wars, Consolidating Peace: Economic Perspectives, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Adelphi Papers vol. 50
September 2010 – By James Cockayne
 In this contribution to the latest Adelphi Paper, the flagship publication of the IISS, Senior Fellow and Director of the New York office James Cockayne explores the links between illicit financing and armed and extremist groups, including terrorist organizations. Cockayne sets out a range of policy implications and concrete recommendations for international peacemakers, peacekeepers and peacebuilders, calling for increased attention to illicit financing in international conflict management strategies.
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Killing in the Name wins Best Documentary at
L.A. Shorts Film Festival
Killing in the Name, a documentary film produced by Carie Lemack, Visiting Fellow at the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation and Founder of Global Survivors Network (GSN) has won the award for Best Documentary at the 2010 14th L.A. Shorts Festival. The film, directed by follows a victim of terrorism, Ashraf, in his quest to speak with victims and perpetrators of terrorist activities and to expose the true human cost of terrorism. The GSN and the film grew out of the first United Nations Symposium on Supporting Victims of Terrorism held on 9 September 2008. The film, directed by Jed Rothstein, has toured New York and Los Angeles and is empowering survivors of terrorism worldwide to share their stories and speak truth to terror.
Click here to see the trailer
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Upcoming Events
Regional Counterterrorism Workshop for Police Officers, Prosecutors, and Counterterrorism Focal Points from South Asia
9-11 November 2010 | Jakarta, Indonesia
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation is collaborating with the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate to organize a regional workshop for police officers, prosecutors, and counterterrorism focal points from South Asia at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in November 2010. A first regional workshop held in Dhaka in November 2009 and a second workshop held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in June 2010 brought together law enforcement officials to share experiences, lessons learned, and best practices in handling cases relating to terrorism and other serious transnational crime. The third workshop in the series will be an exceptional session held outside the South Asia region, designed to better acquaint participants with JCLEC in Indonesia. JCLEC provides a useful model for law enforcement cooperation in a region that faces several shared security challenges. Building on previous workshops in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the sessions in Indonesia will focus on topics including: countering the financing of terrorism; community policing; new payment technologies; and investigations using cell phone records and communications.
East African Legal Training Workshops:
Mutual Legal Assistance & Extradition Under the Recently Adopted IGAD Conventions
7-8 November 2010 | Djibouti
15-17 September 2010 | Kampala Serena Hotel, Kampala, Uganda
15-17 June 2010 | The Harmony Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation and Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD’s) Capacity Building Program Against Terrorism (ICPAT), are organizing a series of training workshops on extradition and mutual legal assistance in East Africa with the support of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This series of training workshops is designed to raise awareness of the recently adopted IGAD Conventions on Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition and to foster the cross border contacts and technical knowledge of the conventions necessary for their effective use. The workshops also draw on resource persons from United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and Amicus Legal Consultants Ltd.
Click here to read the IGAD Practitioner Reference Manual for Mutual Legal Assistance & Extradition.
South Asia Regional Workshop on Effectively Countering Terrorism
8-10 June 2010 | Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka
On 8-10 June 2010, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, working with the Government of Sri Lanka, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, and the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, based in Colombo convened police and prosecutors from across South Asia in Colombo to discuss efforts to strengthen counterterrorism in the region. The three-day workshop provided an unconventional forum for senior-level police officers and prosecutors to consider specific issues that arise in counterterrorism cases. Participants in the workshop also considered steps to strengthen international cooperation in investigations and prosecution, including the possibility of developing a joint regional training mechanism. The workshop was supported by the Governments of Australia and Canada.
Click here to read the organizers observations.
Click here to read the press release.
Press Coverage:
"Regional Cooperation in Combating Terrorism," Mike Smith, Ceylon Daily News, 9 June 2010
"Law Officers'Efficiency Helps Solve Terrorist Cases," Daily Mirror, 9 June 2010
"Sri Lanka Parley Mulls Action Against Terrorist Financing," Lanka Business Online, 11 June 2010
Seminar on EU Support for the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Human Rights
7 June 2010 | European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
On 7 June 2010, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation hosted a seminar in cooperation with the Directorate for External Relations of the European Commission at the Commission’s Headquarters in Brussels. The Seminar focused on raising awareness of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, particularly its human rights aspects. Representatives from the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament were joined by UN officials and non-government experts for the four hour event.
Click here to see the agenda.
Click here to read the background paper.
Improving Counterterrorism Cooperation in North Africa
24-25 May 2010 | ISESCO Headquarters, Rabat, Morocco
On 24-25 May 2010, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hosted a two-day workshop at ISESCO’s headquarters in Rabat on “Implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in North Africa.” The meeting focused on enhancing counterterrorism-related cooperation within North Africa and between the region and external partners such as the United Nations. Participants included representatives from states in the region, the United Nations, and relevant regional and non-governmental organizations.
The meeting was part of a broader effort by the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation to support implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and to help stimulate more effective regional counterterrorism cooperation. It builds on recommendations made at a November 2007 conference held by ISESCO, the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Tunisian government on “Terrorism: Dimensions, Threats and Countermeasures.”
Click here to read the workshop summary and recommendations.
Click here to read the press release.
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