The Future of Counterterrorism: Start By Defining the Threat

With the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a broader debate has opened up—what is the terrorist threat today, and who is threatened? Should U.S. counterterror efforts in Afghanistan be focused only on protecting against attacks on the Unites States and its outposts in the part, or should we be protecting friends and allies? How might such questions apply to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Somalia, Yemen, Niger, Mali, and other relatively remote locations? Which fights are insurgencies or civil wars versus anti-U.S. terrorism? And when it is our fight, what are the most effective approaches to countering terrorism against our people or interests “over the horizon”?