les.. .. we have to keep in mind that no community and no country and no

region is affected by terrorism. yesterday we had the plane hijacking in egypt. although it's not a terrorist incident as we know, but the modus operandi at least remind us the challenges that we are facing. and someday obviously we so with great concern what happened in pakistan and exposed again and again the ugly face of terror. in other words, there is no end to the evil intentions and there is no end to the imagination of the terrorists. the list goes on and on all the way from paris to brussels to

california and elsewhere. so i think we ar have to keep ts in mind and we have to keep in mind the trends that we see particularly in regards to the expansion of islamic state. according to the record that we could really follow from united nations and from the intelligence community, there are close to 40,000 volunteers and fighters throughout the world which join the so-called islamic state or daesh. this is actually much larger, sometimes larger, those volunteers of fighters who join the mujahedin's in afghanistan

to fight the soviet union. what is of great concern that we don't always realize is the threat that is generated north african region as well as sahel and throughout africa. in fact, of the 40 identified groups around the world, that they are partners, quote-unquo quote-unquote, in other words, in terms of declaring religions, in terms of providing support to the daesh, we find about 20 of them are located in africa. in this connection i would like to mention again our publication that might already refer to that

is being released today. it deals with the threat throughout the region. i'm not going to go into details because we do have, fortunately, with us general ward is going to deal with some of these issues. accept this map, this map tells everything that one has to really recognize in terms of the analyses of the nature and the intensity of the impact of the fact. in other words, for many years we are very concerned about they al-qaeda, especially after 9/11 when an increasing number of terrorist attacks took place in north africa, in the sahel. somehow the world was not recognized. in fact lg was the first country was victimized in the 1990s

after the mujahideen came back. but at any rate the point i'm making that today basically every country in the continent of the way, some form of link, outsell, sympathizers of the daesh. so in other words, we are talking about the so-called caliphate without borders, and throughout africa if you have opportunity, try to read that report. and general ward will go into some details. so again, the threat is growing by day. okay.

and this week as we well know, right here in washington there is a summit on nuclear security, and there are representatives from all over the world, from africa, from europe, asia and so on to deal also with the issue of the nuclear terrorism. so it's only a matter of time. it's not if but when and where that we will definitely face also a nuclear terrorist incident and catastrophe. we have to be concerned because even according to the last reports about europe, we know that daesh have some intentions to target the nuclear facilities and so on, and maybe explode a dirty bomb. so with this introduction, i would like to introduce great american, general gray.

[applause] >> good morning. it's my distinct privilege to have an opportunity on behalf of the potomac institute to introduce a great warrior, a great american, and someone i just know that you're going to really be delighted to listen to. no matter how smart you are, i predict you're going to learn something. general kip ward has been a distinguished army officer for over 40 years. most importantly, and i encourage you to read his bio because you need to read that and understand how he developed and what his ideas came from and the like and how he applied them. he started out as an infantry platoon commander, and that's where you really learn about

people, and you find out real quick that everything you get done as a young lieutenant, you get done through people. and so it just makes common sense, if you will, to take care of them. the very best way you know how. at to try to bring them home alive if conflict is there. he went up to a really distinguish career. he has been to all the schools, has held all the commands from the to all the way through division command and the like and then later of course he was the first commander of the africa command which you will talk to us about today. now he's the president and ceo oh of a very interesting company in the corporate world and we were chatting a little earlier before this thing started and i said some of the leadership things that you picked up in the military are apropos in the commercial world as well because

still it's all done by people. we need to learn to take care of them and he agreed to that. we were also chatting, before he was born, i graduate from high school in 1945, at 17. my best, i played football and the like, and my best friend was from high school across the river and they were our traditional rivals. he and i had grown up and know each other for long time, and later he went to the same school, morgan state, only he was a freshman in 1946, and that's back when you have good athletes at morgan state. later when you got there they counted wonderful. at any rate, so we had a chat about that. with no further ado i'm pleased to introduce general kip ward. [applause]

>> let me start off by saying good morning and extending a huge gratitude of thanks to professor alexander, michael swetnam, for me to be this morning to address this group. and always, that general there is absolutely zero introduction, no endorsement by chip or because general al gray is one of our nation's iconic heroes and jenna, let me thank you for your service leaders and content do, all to have do not just for brief but all of a sudden worn across of our nation. thanks very much. [applause] when professor alexander contacted me about coming here, i said i'm not an acting addition. i have not published greater volumes, edifact doing what you do, why would i contribute to

this austere occasion and offer something to this group. he said, that's exactly why we want you there. general gray talked about my career, and i will bring to highlight a couple of things that might be constructed as i go through the remainder of my comments. over 40 years as an infantryman, my first 20 years as a soldier i spent ensuring our nation that should, the great nemesis of the cold war impact our national security, we were going to defeat it. i did that, assigned to units. in europe, in korea, mechanized units, armored units. i did that assign to contingency

force units, 82nd airborne division here in the united states. the last 20 years presented a different paradigm, and i'll talk about that. since 9/11 the security challenges that we face a grave global implications, and they've emerged globally. middle east, africa, europe, asia, all regions, terrorist networks, particularly al-qaeda and daesh, but including boko haram, the most treacherous of these organizations killing hundreds of people a week that goes unreported. they are in the sahel. al-shabaab, they are expanding operations across this arc of instability that exists without borders.

topic for today, combating terrorism, lessons learned here lessons learned. middle east, north africa and the sahel and beyond. this enemy that possesses state like features, not a state, but as spouses to be one, how did we recognize it? not too long ago you at a great presentation here by a youngster, i called and youngster. general you called me a youngster. i called ben stewart a youngster. our current director of the cia. you present an extremely accurate synopsis to lay down what this enemy is. so i will not dare to expand upon what he said about daesh and this force, but that is an enemy that has permeated our global common. we indeed live in a complex

security environment. we knew our enemies when i was a lieutenant. we knew it was. we knew where it was. we knew its intent. we knew how it operated. we took a plan devised to defeat it if it dared challenge us. in 1992 i was a brigade commander, 10th mountain division. went through somalia to help guarantee humanitarian relief in an impoverished and devastated land. 1982 i discovered what i trying to do for 20 years as an infantryman just wasn't working quite well in this environment. my young sergeant who were out doing what they did in villages and hamlets working with tribal

elders and leaders, would come back to me and say hey, colonel, this is not about fire maneuver here. this is about other things to help guarantee stability. we talked about that and we got through that a bit, but we knew then that the in the presented a different face, operate with different tactics, gained its authority to different means, mostly intimidation and terror. lesson learned, did we pay attention to it? maybe, maybe not. some years later i was fortunate enough to be asked to go to egypt to agree to u.s. security coordinator with the egyptian armed forces, an assignment that

i absolutely -- still things went of the best the summit i have her help because it exposed me to understanding the important of understanding those with whom you work that may not be just like you. important tour, help greatest mosaic to inform things that i later came to believe and as i move along. had the great opportunity to command the 25th infantry division, part of the u.s. pacific command area of responsibility, traveling all over south asia region. again, being exposed to folks who were not like me, not like my focus, but learning. lessons learned. lessons learned.

i told general he probably gave my talk in his summation because it's so true. it's about how you understand people. and how you build relationships. that thing will come forth again as i talk here. -- theme. that asymmetrical threat we face in 1992, it was there, things went on in the balkans, and on september 11, 2001, as i sat in the pentagon as the vice director of operations for the joint staff's, that threat became real in no uncertain terms. and as i spent four days in the pentagon without leaving, doing things to help determine what our response would be to that devastating attack that would change all of us, to be sure, we were in a new era.

lessons learned, we all got a crash course in it that day, and we continue to receive it. that enemy that we are trained to defeat as a military no longer existed. and maintaining security and protecting our national interests needed to occur more than at the end of a rifle, by delivering a main gun round out of an abrams tank, by dropping a bomb from a b-1 or by firing a missile from a frigate. to be sure, that needed to be there, but more was required. more is required. i go to the balkans as the nato

commander of the stabilization for an bosnia-herzegovina in 2003, trying to establish stability, put things together so that there was what i called then a horizon of hope for people. that wasn't happening because i was a combat veteran. that was happening because i had better been paying attention to other things in that environment that would make a difference. i was the icc could according to israel and the palestinian authority. these lessons in cd reinforce themselves. what is it that we are doing to help bring stability to an

environment? this notion of security that i had been taught as a lieutenant, captain, colonel, as a young infantryman my first 20 years was exposing to me its limits with respect to the total to mention of how we approach addressing this arc of instability. -- total dimension. i was very fortunate to have been selected to be the inaugural commander of the united states africa command. i had served in four of our nation's geographic commands at that point in varying assignment. so how was this one different? if it is to address challenges we faced, and to be sure, in 2006 and 2007 as we discussing

it, terrorism was well known to us all. we talked about those incidents that had led to us having it smacked right in our faces. because of what that young sergeant said to me on what my trip through somalia in early part of 1993 visiting him, i knew stability was more than just what we brought to this dynamic. what we brought was absolutely critical and he said to me, to be sure, but it needed more. and what was the more? what was the lesson? we talked about today's like it's been around forever. in 2007 we were not talk about the importance of development. we were not talking about the importance of understanding the society in which we were operating, knowing what was important to the people who

lived there where they were and doing things in a sustained way to buy just that such a that they had a stake in their own ability, because they had horizon of hope. we were not talking about this. you say what are you as a soldier talking about it? i talk about it because when it doesn't happen, my soldiers, marines, sailors, get caught in harm's way to help bring security and stability, and i would much rather not do that. to be sure, prepared to do it. that's what my nation's asked me to be. that's why took an oath to do as i wore the cost of the nation. in my mind's eye, that ought be our last resort to achieve the stability that we all desire of these global commons.

as these conditions have continued to move forward, it is even more imperative that those things that are associated with stability, defense to be sure, but as was pointed out by professor alexander, it's more than that. this economic horizon, this horizon that will create something for communities that exist in this vast area, that we've been talking about, even i before al-qaeda and islamic my grub, -- my grub, as pointed out we were not paying attention the conditions that spawn integration of those sorts of activities still exists. so how are we to address? what are the lessons learned? we have built great systems to do with the security aspect intelligence fusion centers and

sales, sustained engagement, combined and joint operations to address threats, the use of our special operation forces, the use of our conventional forces. i offer that same global engagement is important across this arc of instability and other areas as well. what is our sustained developmental engagement? what is our sustained diplomatic engagement. you and other members of panel talk about the role of our various countries and north africa play in helping to build security, what they are doing. i offer some of it will be done by having better trained intelligence, better fewest and

integrated intelligent, better sharing of intelligence. some of it will come by having better trained and efficient security forces, be the national armed forces, be they police forces. much of it will, because the economic require but, the development of issues, the living conditions of folks in an area takes a turn that will cause those who live there to see for themselves a horizon of hope where they are. where they are. whose responsibility is that? i offer that it is our collective responsibility, just as we took collective actions to address it in a military perspective, that same collective action ought to be taken to address it in a, from a developmental perspective. in this, that third trend when

we talk about today, it's about good governance. what is our sustained level of engagement? just as we have to have sustained security engagements, we must have sustained developmental and diplomatic engagement. we must devote some portion of our national treasure to that effort. we don't bear that burden alone in the united states of america. the global community bears it as a global community because the threat is a global threat. but what have we built to address the work that is being done by should bob, -- should bob, by boko haram, by daesh, who has no boko haram cost the

discussion to be seen in ways never before realized. as we move forward, as we look at the programs that facilitate processes come this notion of sustained engagement comes home in this regard. i love our men and women who wear the uniform of our nation. i am who i am and what i am because of them, and i know that. they, they, as we were engaged globally, not just because we are side-by-side fighting with them come and to be sure, we are put there to do that, bu but wee side-by-side engaging with them, causing a dynamic to occur whereby there's mutual learning going on, us understand it better, facing a different way

and taking advantage of that to bring that stability to where they are. we can't be everywhere, but we must be somewhere. in this modern age of social media, et cetera, et cetera, this notion of virtual reality, we can do things virtually. you don't build relationsrelations hips virtually. you build relationships because you are there. one of the best tools we have at our disposal is how we build relationships with our friends, because our common objective to be realized. as the inaugural committee of euros africa command, one of our main focus, priorities was to cause a level of sustained security engagement with our partners and friends across north africa, the sahel come in

sub-saharan africa. so that they knew they could depend on us to be there. i offer that is no true in europe, and asia, the middle east, the places where us being a part of a dynamic that creates stability, across a range of activities, will make a difference. doesn't take a lot. doesn't take a lot, but it takes something. and when we dedicate resources, and our greatest resource, in my mind's eye, our america's sons and daughters who willingly don the uniform of our nation to go forward and serve. we ought to take advantage of that. what are the lessons learned? there are many. they are buried, but they are at

hand, and as we work with partners around the globe, our ability to make a difference to address the arc of instability in ways beyond force of arms on be a priority. we can never back away from that. but it ought not be our first resort of action. and as we support it in ways that will make a difference, we will be able to establish a horizon of hope, such that neighborhoods, communities, nations, regions are doing more for themselves because of the support, the cooperation, the collaboration that's being received by the community of nations and their environments.

let me close by saying this. we must present and cause our friends and allies and all those whose interests are threatened by terrorism to present across the range of activities, defense, development, diplomacy, a scenario that causes of those who are impacted in these regions to see a horizon of hope so that they take a stake and take action to address this threat. and while that's going on we will continue to take those off the scenes who are just bad actors. but that's not all that's required. these other pieces of it are also important. and as we saw integration of

africom, that in large measure has been adopted by other combatants and regional commands, our engagement, our relationship building, our understanding of what's important for peoples in those regions, and then addressing it and addressing it in real ways, ways that are important to them where they are, that's going to make a difference. and i've seen that around the world. from europe to the middle east, asia and africa. those are lessons of a soldier over a 40 year career, and he didn't know a whole lot about much, other than getting to know people, understanding what was important to them, addressing it in some way, however modest, so that they then took steps to

help create stability in their regions. because that's in our national interest. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, general, for your very profound insight and experiences, particularly what works, what doesn't work. i'm sure we will have many questions for you, but if we may we would like to proceed with our colleagues to make brief statements about their own perspectives, and then we will have a q&a discussion. next, wafa, will you kindly go over there?

>> ladies and gentlemen, first of all i would like to take this opportunity to thank the organizers of this important event, and thank you for hosting me to speak on this important subject to all of us, that terrorism that has affected all of our lives, and combating terrorism is also a personal matter to me as i lost members of my family, and my friends who were brutally killed by terrorists in my own city of benghazi in libya. i cannot agree more with remarks of general william.

it's true that stabilizing and secure nation's is the only way to have a sustainable defeat to terrorism. and i think the world has to come the international community has to support week nations to lead security, and to reach to build and that's the only way to have a sustainable defeat to terrorism. i will start by saying also that terrorism is mainly a tactic, and targeting terrorism on its own is not effected. we can for sure say that it's a phenomena that is undermining our common humanity and is inherently global. and targeting it today is a vast and major work to do. the latest brutal terrorist

attacks in belgium, lahore, and before the tunisia, mali, paris and here in the u.s. remind us again and again with the urgent need for more efficient concert at international strategy to combat it. we need to broaden the way we think about this threat and take measures to prevent it from proliferating. terrorism no doubt is the cancer of our age. and no one and no country is immune from it. what is most alarming in the present context is the rapid expansion of violent extremism, extremist ideologies in different parts of the world, especially in the sub-sahasub-saha ran countries. and there is no question about it. we need to cooperate on many levels to combat it, ma and we

need to learn from our past mistakes, what works and what didn't work. counterterrorism centers around the world and the need for an increasing number of specialists to deal with this problem, testified to the seriousness of this issue. and i'm sure we have among us here today excellent experts on the subject, such as professor yonah alexander who devotes a lot of his time as the director of the university center for terrorism studies, to this issue and to this cause. and i thank him for the value to report that has been prepared to date by their center. according to a recent u.n. report published in december 2015, violent extremists have been able to

recruit over 30,000 foreign terrorist fighters, as i heard from him today, and also from this report, from over 100 member states. they were to travel to syria, iraq, afghanistan, yemen and libya. the same mentioned report suggests some counterterrorism measures that require a more comprehensive approach which, in comparison, not only ongoing essential security-based counterterrorism, but also systematic preventive measures which directly address the drivers of five the extremism but have given rise to the emergence of these new groups. -- violent extremism. i agree with the conclusions of the report. it makes a lot of sense because, in my humble opinion, we need to

pay enough attention to why individuals are attracted to violent extremist groups. i'm also convinced that the creation of open, inclusive and pluralist societies based on the four. >> of the human right in with economic opportunities for all represent the most tangible and most meaningful alternative to violent extremism, and the most promising strategy for rendering it unattractive. we will not be successful unless we can harness the idealism, creativity and energy of young people and others who feel disenfranchised. young people in our societies, in particular, constitute the majority of the population of an increasing and also in an increasing number of countries

in the region. and these young people must be viewed as an asset and must be empowered to make constructive contributions to the political and economic development of our societies and nations. they represent an untapped resource, and we must offer them a positive vision of the future together with a genuine chance to realize their aspirations and potential. recent history has shown in our region and especially in libya that while the city situations and conflict tend to be further exasperated by civil conflict and proxy wars that deepen the crisis and increase the suffering. it's also critical that in

responding to this threat we recognize that violent extremism aims at provoking states into overreacting, and then exploit ill-conceived government action for their own propaganda. in the case of libya where we see political and military fragmentation, daesh, and it's called isis or isil in some other parts, and other terrorists and criminal groups came into being into advantage of this security vacuum to occupy and hold strategic coastal city, undermining what's left of libya state, and succeeded in recruiting a large number of foreign fighters who came in big waves acrossgn figho came in big waves across our uncontrolled borders. we do not know the exact numbers of those fighters, but

intelligent assessments state that they are between 5000-7000 fighters, but it's notable that the number is a also increased, especially after what isis has suffered in syria and iraq. libya, in general, and leaving society is not hospitable to daesh. libya and culture and religion despises extremism. throughout our history the libyan people are moderate in nature, and that applies to the islamic institutions as well. however, the deteriorating economic situation in my country makes an increasing number of desperate libyan -- vulnerable to recruitment and to these radical groups. the lack of social, economical opportunities and the marginalization in addition to

the semi-failed state of poor governance and we had during the past couple of years since the revolution pose a real challenge for any future, good governance in libya. again it's critical to recognize that violent extremism tends to strive in environment characterized by conflict, full governance, democracy deficit and corruption. and, unfortunately, we have all of these diseases in libya today. in addition to that the prolonged political conflict in the country makes it difficult to counter isis and come up with an effective strategy. i must also mention but it's not a isis that we have in libya. the other terrorist groups and we feel that there is a

competition between them. and we feel that the relations between them areas between one part of the country to the other, depending on the society here for different social structures and different parts of the country, that is. violent extremist groups in libya cynically distort and exploit religious beliefs, ethnic differences, misuse of religion is realized to divide our nation today. our culture and our people. undermining the very existence of the libyan nation, but i would like to mention that many of these radical elements came from outside libya itself. recent developments in different cities in libya such as benghazi and have established that these groups cannot be routed in the country. but it's important to at the

isis and other terrorist groups have different makeup in different parts of the libya as i just mentioned. in each earlier they take advantage of the social problems present in that area. nonetheless, we should recognize that all of them are symptoms of a disease. and this is so important to remember. a lot of people think that what's happening in libya is a result of terrorism their, but actually terrorism is just a symptom of the disease that has happened to libya. again, terrorism i must mention is merely a tactic. targeting terrorism on its own is ineffective and we need to go beyond that. there are credible reports suggesting that boko haram is connected with isis in libya as well, and he implications of

this could be devastating to the whole region. but the spillover could reach also and has reached to europe and the u.s. itself. and as one distinguished american journalist suggested, and i fully agree with him, he says our strategy should create a firewall between the two groups to prevent the spread of this cancer in the earlier and beyond to theand beyond to the islamic state or the so-called islamic state, libya, is no longer a matter of a few scattered groups. it's an increasingly orgroups. it's an increasingly organized entity and trends in a country with large uncovered spaces. and in this context, i would like to emphasize that libya is a unique place, geographically and strategically, and should be seen in that way.

if we contain and defeat libya, we can defeat it in north africa and the sub-saharan region. and i'm sure we will. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you very much, wafa. next we will have the deputy chief of information from tunisia. >> good morning, everybody. start by thinking professor yonah alexander and the atomic institute for policy studies for this opportunity to potomac institute -- to talk to you about this topic which as

everybody agrees is a global issue. that is affecting all the world and every single day, unfortunately we are having proof of that, that no country is safe from this threat. i chose not to overload this presentation which will be brief with facts and figures and stuff like that, because all this is available to everybody on the internet, on the news in the media as well. i chose just to have an over cry of the tunisian experience in that regard, and where we are coming from and where we are now. we would like to go actually along with, obviously, in our context, regional context in the global context of the world in general, along with our

partners, the french and the like. just a few words on the tunisian background. tunisia is a country with more than 3000 years of history. tunisia has been receptacle to many civilizations, brought about by different peoples come from diverse origins who have been coming, actually as innovators and occupiers but who have ended up settling on the land. and in so doing they integrated the local population and bringing their own culture background. i mean, just to mention a few of those so-called invaders, the

nation's, romans, vandals, spanish, french, so on and so forth, all those can do so in tunisia. they have all those can do so in tunisia. they have all left their imprint obviously come and when i spoke of reciprocal of civilizations, this is what i meant. like i mean, religion wise, jews, christians and muslims have coexisted for centuries in tunisia as well. side-by-side and culturally very close to each other, to the point that cultures at the end make up a mixture of a new culture, a new identity. hence the diversity, the openness, tolerance are a part of our ferry heritage. it's actually not our genes that this has grown. now, what on earth one could say what