The Combating Terrorism Center Second Cadet/Student Conference on Terrorism, Insurgency and Asymmetric Conflicts, was held at West Point, NY on 26-27 March 2012. It included five cadets (four cadets from West Point and one cadet from the Citadel) and six external students, aimed to provide a high-level forum for undergraduate and graduate students to present research focusing on the characteristics, causes and implications of terrorism and insurgency, as well as on broader issues related to asymmetric conflicts.
The participants were divided into three panels – focusing on counter-terrorism in the Middle Eastern context, the relations between states and terrorist groups and counter terrorism in the American and global context – and presented their works to an audience of cadets, CTC and West Point faculty and prominent experts in the field such as Prof. Ami Pedahzur (University of Texas at Austin) and Prof. Christopher Hewitt (Georgetown University). The conference proved to be an effective tool in helping the cadets elevate their scholarship, as well as expand and promote their understanding of and familiarity with current events in the context of modern terrorism.
