What Kills Terrorism? Expert from National War College to Offer Answers in November 2 Talk

CHESTERTOWN—Audrey Kurth Cronin, an expert on terrorism and conflict resolution, will visit Washington College on Tuesday November 2, to offer her views on “How Terrorism Ends.” She will speak at 5 p.m. in Hyson Lounge of Hodson Hall on the College Campus, 300 Washington Avenue. Presented by the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs and the William James Forum, the talk is free and open to the public.

Currently Director of War and Statecraft and professor of strategy at the National War College in Washington, D.C., Cronin will base her talk on research from her 2009 book, How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns. The book, which was supported by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Peace, examines terrorist campaigns and their downfalls throughout history, and then outlines a strategy for speeding the demise of Al Qaeda.

Cronin wrote her book over two years she spent at Oxford University as Academic Director of Studies for the Changing Character of War program. She joined the National War College in the summer of 2007 as a full professor. Prior to that she was on the faculty of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she created a graduate course on political violence and terrorism that became well known long before the attacks of September 11th. She also has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Maryland and Columbia University.

In addition to her 20-year career as a professor, Cronin holds extensive experience applying her research for government and military groups. She has served in various positions within the U.S. Government, with the Navy and the Department of Defense. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, she also advised members of Congress as Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service.

Her earlier books include Ending Terrorism: Lessons for Defeating al-Qaeda (Routledge, 2008) and Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy, co-authored with James M. Ludes (Georgetown University Press, 2004).