The Proceedings of the 2015 West Point Senior Conference
On behalf of Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, Jr., Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and his predecessors, the Department of Social Sciences (SOSH) has convened the Senior Conference every year since 1963, with the exceptions of 1969 and 2013, to discuss national security topics in a sequestered, informal setting. The goal of the 2015 Senior Conference was to bring together diverse ways of thinking about the challenges posed by terrorism. This year’s theme, “Counterterrorism: Unconventional Approaches to an Unconventional Threat,” was intended to focus discussion on what one attendee described as “the hardest problem” the United States is likely to face for a long time. In the spirit of previous years, West Point brought together eminent scholars in the field of terrorism, representatives from international organizations, non-governmental organizations, private industry, and the U.S. government, in addition to senior military leaders.
The CTC Sentinel is devoting this issue to the results of this endeavor with articles that highlight the most interesting avenues of exploration and discussion.
COL Cindy R. Jebb, Ph.D.
Professor and Head
Department of Social Sciences
U.S. Military Academy
