Abu Dhabi think tank addresses ISIL threat in US conference

The two-day conference was held at the Stimson Centre in Washington DC on April 27-28 and attended by a large number of scholars, professionals in the field, and journalists.

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Experts and scholars on terrorism and counter-terrorism gathered in the United States to address the global security challenges posed by ISIL at a conference hosted, in part, by an Abu Dhabi think tank.

The two-day conference was held at the Stimson Centre in Washington DC and attended by scholars, professionals in the field, and journalists.

“Governments and international organisations are attempting to come up with responses to the threats posed by Daesh, but so far these efforts have not been fully effective,” state news agency Wam said.

The event was organised by Trends Research and Advisory, in Abu Dhabi, the Orfalea Centre for Global and International Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Stimson Centre. The discussions addressed the political, military and social impact of ISIL.

Marc Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist and counter-terrorism consultant, said: “We are in a difficult position as governments have substantial information about terrorist organisations, but do not fully understand it, while researchers, academics and advisers do understand the information, but lack details due to security concerns.”

There is no easy answer to the gaps in information and understanding but clearly governments and politicians need to focus their attention and make use of experts, Mr Sageman said.

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