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Working to Protect America from Terrorism Abroad [1]

['John Yim', 'Rachel Iacono']

Date: 2024-01 

In my travels around the world, I’ve seen how in some places the influence of AQ and ISIS and their affiliates continues to grow – particularly in Africa. We need not just to neutralize terrorists, but we also must promote long term security. We must work together to put America’s best foot forward and to provide a safer place for people all over the world. Victoria Nuland Acting Deputy Secretary of State

Keeping America Safe and Secure from Terrorism Abroad

In late October and early November, 2023, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counter Terrorism hosted its annual Counterterrorism Assistance Planning Event (CAPE), a critical part of State’s whole-of-government planning efforts to determine where to target the Bureau’s nearly $320 million in FY23 foreign assistance to keep America safe and secure from terrorism abroad. Hundreds of U.S. government officials and contractors from across the U.S. Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security, the Treasury, and others – as well as from more than 30 U.S. embassies – participated.

Identifying Counterterrorism Hotspots and Priorities

During the opening plenary, Acting Deputy Secretary Victoria Nuland and the National Counterterrorism Center’s Director Christy Abizaid shared their perspectives on the current administration’s counterterrorism approach. Amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, both highlighted the importance of State’s diplomatic, multilateral, and programmatic efforts to protect the United States and our partners from terrorism.

CAPE also hosted additional plenaries with current and former U.S. government leaders and other leading experts – including former General Stanley McChrystal, former Congresswoman Jane Harman, Washington Post columnists David Ignatius and Max Boot, and former ambassadors Anthony Wayne, Robert Ford, and Bisa Williams – to discuss how the United States can maximize counterterrorism efforts within a wide range of national security priorities. Key topics at these sessions included: mitigating the dynamic terrorism landscape in Africa; promoting U.S. principles and global counterterrorism norms in multilateral fora; addressing the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Syria; and understanding the nexus between counterterrorism and strategic competition.

Developing Counterterrorism Programs and Partnerships

CAPE also helps us align programs with policy, ensuring that competing priorities, budget constraints, and emerging threats are identified and addressed appropriately. Since 2017, we have used the event to drive the allocation of more than $3 billion in counterterrorism capacity-building programs across dozens of countries worldwide. This year, we convened more than 20 country and regionally focused program design workshops to explore potential counterterrorism programs and partnerships that may require increased focus. These include but are not limited to: countering Iran-linked terrorism globally; improving security sector responsiveness in Coastal West Africa; mitigating terrorists’ potential use of migration routes in Central America; bolstering international cooperation against racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism; and countering terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan.

About the Authors: John Yim is a Strategist at the State Departments’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, and Rachel Iacono is a Strategic Monitoring Analyst at the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism.

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[1] Url: https://www.state.gov/working-to-protect-america-from-terrorism-abroad/

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