Securing the Future Initiative

The Soufan Center is pleased to introduce the first-ever independent review and assessment of the United Nations Security Council’s counterterrorism activities. The project will assess the Security Council’s counterterrorism efforts since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as lessons learned in addressing the evolving terrorist threat. Drawing on wide ranging research, analysis and consultations, the project will offer policy-relevant recommendations for ensuring that the UNSC’s approach to addressing terrorist threats is both effective and sustainable. We are delighted that Royal United Services Institute Senior Associate Fellow Eric Rosand and President of the Fourth Freedom Forum Alistair Millar will be partnering with TSC Executive Director Naureen Chowdhury Fink in leading the SFI.

Launched in September 2021, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the SFI will feature a report, to be released in Fall 2022, which will identify where the Security Council can be most effective in its counterterrorism approach and offer recommendations to ensure it addresses the changing terrorist and geopolitical landscape and takes into account the evolution of the international counterterrorism architecture over the past 20 years. This report will reflect on the past two decades of Security Council counterterrorism practices, drawing on a core team of experts with more than 50 years of combined experience working on UN and other multilateral counterterrorism and P/CVE issues. The project team will convene multi-stakeholder roundtables, consultations and interviews to complement an analysis of the  activities of the Council, including their impact on terrorist threat levels  and responses on the ground.

EVENTS

SFI convened a number of workshops and roundtable discussions with stakeholders from the United Nations, UN Member States, national governments, and civil society, as well as independent experts to inform its research into UNSC counterterrorism activities over the past two decades.

PUBLICATIONS

In addition to its own independent review of UNSC counterterrorism activities, SFI commissioned a series of research briefs by experts in the UN, counterterrorism, peacekeeping, and other related fields.