Seth Jones, counter-terrorist analyst from the RAND Corporation, argues the death of Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring have not weakened al Qa’ida and its allied groups. The threat to the U.S. and its allies posed by terrorist groups remain.
Seth G. Jones is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He most recently served as the representative for the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations. Before that, he served as a plans officer and advisor to the commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan (Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan).
Jones specializes in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, with a particular focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and al Qa’ida. He is the author of In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan (W. W. Norton), which won the 2010 Council on Foreign Relations Silver Medal for Best Book of the Year and The Rise of European Security Cooperation (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
His most recent book is Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa’ida After 9/11 (W. W. Norton, forthcoming). He has published articles in a range of journals, such as Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, as well as in such newspapers and magazines as the New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.
This talk was recorded November 16, 2011 at Point Lookout in Northport.