ISP Symposium – Intelligence Reform and Counterterrorism after a Decade: Are We Smarter and Safer?

October 16, 2014  |  Time Varies
AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center

It has been a decade since the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 ushered in a sweeping reorganization of the U.S. intelligence community, creating the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center. Partnering with the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, the University of Texas at Austin’s Clements Center and Strauss Center hosted a multi-day gathering on “Intelligence Reform and Counterterrorism after a Decade: Are We Smarter and Safer?” from October 16-18, 2014. The conference examined what lessons have been learned and what challenges lie ahead. The event was a culmination of a large number of interviews and will be followed by a report with recommendations. It aims to be the most comprehensive and high-profile examination of the largest reorganization of the U.S. intelligence community in more than 50 years.

Video, audio, and images from the conference can be found below.


Photos of keynote conversations with Admiral McRaven and Director Clapper

Photos of keynote conversations with Steve Hadley, U.S. Rep Mac Thornberry, and U.S. Rep Michael McCaul

Photos of sessions 1-6


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16

4:00-5:00pm     Welcome Remarks and Discussion with Admiral William McRaven, (ret.) [click for audio]

                        Introduced by William Powers, Jr, UT-Austin President

5:00-6:30pm     Keynote Address “Ten Years of Intelligence Integration and Reform” [click for audio]   

                        James ClapperDirector of National Intelligence 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

8:45-9:00am     Opening Remarks: Admiral Bobby Inman (ret.)former National Security Director

9:00-10:30am   Session 1: Office of the Director of National Intelligence: The View from the Top [click for audio]

Moderator: Michael Allen, Beacon Global Strategies Managing Director

James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence

Vice Admiral Michael McConnell, former Director of National Intelligence

David Shedd, Defense Intelligence Agency Director (Acting)

10:45-12:15pm Session 2: Office of the Director of National Intelligence: The View from Outside [click for audio]

Moderator: Paul Pope, UT-Austin CIA Officer in Residence

Stephen Cambone, former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Lt Gen Frank Kisner (ret.), former NATO Special Operations Commander

Jim Langdon, former Chair of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board

Steve Slick, former National Security Council Senior Director

12:45-2:00pm   Luncheon and Keynote Conversation: Steve Hadleyformer National Security Advisor [click for audio]

2:15-3:45pm     Session 3: National Counterterrorism Center [click for audio]

Moderator: Robert Chesney, Strauss Center Director

Michael Allen, Former House Intelligence Committee Staff Director

Matt Olsen, former National Counterterrorism Center Director

Juan Zarate, former Deputy National Security Advisor

4:00-5:30pm     Session 4: Jihadist Terrorism: Assessing the Present and Future Threat [click for audio]

Moderator: Paul D. Miller, Clements Center Associate Director

Mary Habeck, former National Security Council Special Advisor

Marcel Lettre, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

John McLaughlin, former CIA Director (Acting)

Quintan Wiktorowicz, former National Security Council Senior Director

5:45-7:00pm     Keynote Address: “Congress over the Last Decade: Help or Hindrance” [click for audio]

U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, Armed Services Committee Vice-Chairman

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18

9:00-10:30am   Session 5: The Path Forward: Practitioner Perspectives [click for audio]

Moderator: Chuck Alsup, INSA Vice President for Policy

Tom Fingar, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence

Admiral Bobby Inman (ret.), former National Security Agency Director

John McLaughlin, former CIA Director (Acting)

Nick Rasmussen, Acting National Counterterrorism Center Director

David Shedd, Defense Intelligence Agency Director (Acting)

10:45-12:15pm Session 6: The Path Forward: Scholar Perspectives [click for audio]

Moderator: William Inboden, Clements Center Director

Robert Jervis, Columbia University Professor

Joshua Rovner, Southern Methodist University Associate Professor

Gary Schmitt, American Enterprise Institute Resident Scholar

Jennifer Sims, Chicago Council on Global Affairs Senior Fellow

Amy Zegart, Stanford University

12:30-1:30pm  Closing Luncheon and Keynote Address “The False Narrative: How Ending the ‘War on Terror’ Put America in Danger” [click for audio]

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, Homeland Security Committee Chairman

About the Sponsors

The William P. Clements Jr. Center for History, Stratey & Statecraft at the University of Texas at Austin is a nonpartisan research and policy center that draws on the best insights of diplomatic and military history to train the next generation of national security leaders. The Clements Center honors former Texas Governor Bill Clements and his leadership on national security during his service as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1973-77.

The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law integrates expertise from across the University of Texas at Austin, as well as from the private and public sectors, in pursuit of practical solutions to emerging international challenges. Towards that end, the Center sponsors a wide array of research programs and educational initiatives.

The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a non-profit, non-partisan, public-private organization that works to promote and recognize the highest standards within the national security and intelligence communities. INSA members include current and former high-ranking intelligence, military and government agency leaders, analysts, and experts from industry and academia. Drawing on the experience and expertise of this membership, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance provides the thought leadership that identifies crucial intelligence topics, completes strategic research and promotes innovative solutions.

This conference is part of the Intelligence Studies Project, a collaboration of the Clements Center and Strauss Center to bring together scholars, poicymakers, and intelligence officials to explore the past, present, and future of intelligence work. This includes workshops conducted with the National Security Agency, the National Intelligence Council, and senior intelligence and counterterrorism officials.

Corporate sponsorship is provided by Raytheon Company, a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security, and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 92 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems; as well as a broad range of mission support services.