This lecture will talk about the genesis of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, how this terrorist group has metastasized and recruited across the world. From the challenges of fighting this group to the current loss of ISIS’ territory, CIGI Senior Fellow Bessma Momani will examine how foreign fighters are now an intelligence and policing matter for Western governments. She will discuss how promoting community resilience in Western societies is not just more economical and feasible than tackling homegrown terrorism, but also how preventing violent extremism is the best offence against future homegrown threats to Western countries.
Event Speakers
Bessma Momani
Bessma Momani is a senior fellow, joining CIGI in 2004. She has a Ph.D. in political science with a focus on international political economy, and is professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and the University of Waterloo. She is a 2015 fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and a Fulbright Scholar.