[18 October 2021] Founded in 2016, the International Centre for Policing and Security (ICPS) at the University of South Wales (USW) is a think tank that concentrates on the European and international dimensions of policing and security. Although it specifically focuses on European Union institutions and agencies, as well as relevant policies and the law, it frequently extends its reach beyond the European borders. That was precisely the intention behind the ICPS’ recent online event entitled “Afghanistan: 20 Years After 9/11”, which was held throughout the day on Friday, October 15, 2021.
Over a dozen government officials, researchers and academics were brought together under the ICPS umbrella to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, under two parallel themes: first, “Missteps and Lessons Learned After Two Decades of Military Occupation”; and second, “Counter-Terrorism Cooperation and the Challenges Ahead”. Among the event’s speakers were EIA’s Deputy Director in the United States, Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis, and the EIA’s Director, John Nomikos, who delivered the keynote speech, entitled “From Syrian (2015) to Afghan (2021) Refugees: Lessons the EU Member States Must Learn”.
In his keynote speech, Dr. Nomikos urged the international community to ensure that any humanitarian assistance funds given to the new Afghan government are appropriately audited and do not feed a new corrupt regime, as we saw in the past 20 years in Afghanistan. He also urged European and American law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to build trust and increase multinational collaboration, with the aim of combating new security threats emanating from Afghanistan. Dr. Nomikos ended his presentation by highlighting some of the lessons that the international community learned from Syria, which he said may prove critical in helping us avoid similar errors in the case of Afghanistan.
The presentation by Dr. Fitsanakis was entitled: “Intelligence Collection in Denied Areas: The Lessons of Afghanistan”. He discussed the record of human intelligence collection by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Afghan campaign of 2001-2021, with reference to changes in intelligence collection systems that were brought upon the agency by the events of September 11, 2001. Dr. Fitsanakis argued that the CIA has yet to fully adapt to the needs of recruiting sub-state assets, which present different sets of challenges from human intelligence operations focusing state assets.
The EIA salutes the ICPS and thanks its leadership, as well as the leadership of the USW, for their innovative and pro-active scholarly endeavors in the service of security studies in Europe and beyond. [EIA]