2025 GLOBAL SUMMIT ON TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE
SEPTEMBER 9-10 2025 - NEW YORK, NY
The Soufan Center hosted the second annual Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence on September 9–10, 2025, in New York City. Held as part of the September 10 Project, the Summit underscores our continued commitment to honoring the memory of 9/11 victims and addressing today’s evolving global threats. This annual summit was born from the understanding that we must never become complacent—never take our eyes off the warning signs, trendlines, or fault lines that may allow terrorist organizations to reemerge and exploit our blind spots.
SPEAKERS
Ms. Hannah Allam
Reporter, ProPublica
Ms. Deborah Amos
Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence, Princeton University
Mr. Edan Alexander and Family
Taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023
Mr. Peter Bergen
Vice President of Global Studies & Fellows, New America; Center Co-Director and Professor of Practice, Future Security Initiative, Arizona State University; National Security Analyst, CNN
Senator Richard Blumenthal
U.S. Senator for Connecticut
Mr. Nicholas S. Bradley
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
Ms. Clara Broekaert
Multi-Mission Analyst, The Soufan Group; Research Fellow, The Soufan Center
Mr. Leonard Bwire
Investigator, Kenyan Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU)
Amb. Roger Carstens
Former Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA), U.S. Department of State
Mr. Clifford Chanin
Executive Vice President and Director, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Dr. Colin Clarke
Senior Research Fellow, The Soufan Center; Director of Research, The Soufan Group
Dr. Ben Connable
Executive Director, Battle Research Group; Adjunct Security Studies Professor, Georgetown University
Mr. Joseph Connor
Son of Frank Connor, murdered by the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) in the 1975 bombing of Fraunces Tavern in New York; Anti-Terror Advocate, WeWinAmerica.com; ShatteredLives.us
Colonel (ret.) Christopher Costa
Former Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Counterterrorism, U.S. National Security Council; Executive Director, International Spy Museum
Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis
Assistant Director in Charge, Los Angeles Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Mr. Brian Driscoll Jr.
Former Assistant Director, Critical Incident Response Group, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Mr. Brett Eagleson
Son of John Bruce Eagleson, killed on 9/11; President, 9/11 Justice
Mr. Greg Ehrie
Chief Security Officer, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Mr. Hesham Elgamiel
Former Supervisory Special Agent and FBI Attaché to Doha; Senior Director of Quality Assurance and Business Development, The Soufan Group
Mr. Dexter Filkins
Staff Writer, The New Yorker
Ms. Diane Foley
Mother of James Foley, taken hostage and murdered by ISIS; President and Founder, James W. Foley Legacy Foundation
Mr. Travis Frain OBE DL
Victim of the 2017 Westminster Bridge Terror Attack; Director of Resilience in Unity and Chief of Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Terrorism & Security
Professor Chuck Freilich
Former Israeli Deputy National Security Adviser; Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Columbia University; Senior Fellow, the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv
Mr. Bobby Ghosh
Analyst and Journalist
Dr. Karen Greenberg
Future Security Fellow, New America; Non- Resident Senior Research Fellow, NYU’s Reiss Center on Law and Security
Mr. Adam Hadley CBE
Founder and Executive Director, Tech Against Terrorism
Dr. Bruce Hoffman
Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Dr. John Horgan
Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, Georgia State University
Mr. Seamus Hughes
Senior Research Faculty, National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE), University of Nebraska Omaha
Mr. Michael Isikoff
Contributing Editor, SpyTalk
Dr. Amira Jadoon
Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Clemson University
Mr. Brian Jenkins
Senior Advisor to the President, RAND Corporation
Dr. Michael Kenney
Wesley W. Posvar Chair in International Security Studies, Director of the Matthew B. Ridgway Center, and Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh
Mr. Rami Khouri
Distinguished Public Policy Fellow, Issam Fares Institute, American University of Beirut
Mr. Robert Kissane
Special Agent in Charge, Counterterrorism Division, New York Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Dr. Ariel Koch
Adjunct Lecturer, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Reichman University
Ms. Kristi Kottis
Co-Host, FBI True
Ms. Sarah Moriarty (née Levinson)
Daughter of Robert “Bob” Levinson, the longest held hostage in American history; Co-Founder and Principal R. A. Levinson & Associates; Future Security Program, New America
Dr. Matthew Levitt
Director, Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Dr. Devorah Margolin
Blumenstein-Rosenbloom Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University
Mr. Ahmad Massoud
Son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, murdered by Al-Qaeda on September 9, 2001
Ms. Pearl Matibe
Terrorism Subject Matter and Africa Regional Expert, Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center, George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government
Mr. Tom McCarney
Supervisory Special Agent, New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss
Founding Director and Chief Vision Officer, Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University
General (Ret.) Austin S. Miller
Former Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Commander
Mr. Christopher C. Miller
Former Acting Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
Mr. John Miller
Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, CNN
Dr. Assaf Moghadam
Professor, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy, Reichman University; Visiting Professor, Georgetown University
Mr. Carl and Mrs. Marsha Mueller
Parents of Kayla Mueller, taken hostage and murdered by ISIS
Ms. Elizabeth Neumann
Former Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention, Department of Homeland Security; Chief Strategy Officer, Moonshot
Mr. John P. O’Neill Jr.
Son of John O'Neill, former FBI Agent killed on 9/11; Internal Enterprise Investigations Manager, Bank of America
Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia
Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Mr. Don Rassler
Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC), United States Military Academy at West Point; Editor-in-Chief, CTC Sentinel
Dame Louise Richardson
President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Chief Roberto Rios
Assistant Chief, New York City Police Department (NYPD)
Ms. Candace Rondeaux
Senior Director, Future Frontlines, New America
Amb. Nathan Sales
Former Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State; Distinguished Fellow, Middle East Programs, Atlantic Council
Dr. David Scharia
Director and Chief of Branch, Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate at the United Nations (CTED)
Mr. Gavin Simpson
Plaintiffs’ Counsel in 9/11 litigation (S.D.N.Y.), Kreindler & Kreindler LLP
Mr. Colin Smith
Coordinator, Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, United Nations
Mr. Peter Smith
Researcher and Journalist, Militant Wire
Dr. Joseph Spindler
Father of Jason Spindler, survived 9/11 but was killed in the 2019 al-Shabaab attack on the DusitD2 Hotel in Kenya; Jason J Spindler Foundation
Mr. Preston Stewart
National Security Content Creator
Dr. Nicolas Stockhammer
Director, Counter-Terrorism, CVE (Countering Violent Extremism) and Intelligence research cluster, Danube-University Krems
Dr. Aileen Teague
Assistant Professor, The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University
Mr. Jonathon Thompson
Executive Director and CEO, National Sheriffs’ Association
Commissioner Robert S. Tucker
Fire Commissioner, Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY)
Mr. Ali Velshi
Host of ``Velshi`` & Chief Correspondent, MSNBC
Mr. Lucas Webber
Research Fellow, The Soufan Center; Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst, Tech Against Terrorism
Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Ulam Weiner
Deputy Commissioner, Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, New York City Police Department (NYPD)
Mr. Lawrence Wright
Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Looming Tower
Ms. Helen Zhang
Tech and Diplomacy Expert and Cofounder of Intrigue Media
ABOUT THE SOUFAN CENTER (TSC)
The Soufan Center (TSC) is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering research, analysis, and strategic dialogue on foreign policy challenges with a particular focus on global security, conflict prevention and resolution, and the rule of law.
CONTACT
In-person attendance is by invitation only. The Global Summit is open to media coverage by invited members of the press. For credentials, interview requests, media inquiries, and any further information for journalists, please contact the media coordinator: [email protected].