The Burn Bag Podcast
We’re here to redefine how scholars and policymakers approach national security and foreign policy. Join us, as we make sense of a world in crisis.
The Burn Bag Podcast
ISIS Attacks Russia: Dissecting the Terror Attack at a Moscow Concert Hall with fmr. Counterterrorism Official Javed Ali
This week, A'ndre is joined by Javed Ali, a former counterterrorism official who served as Senior Director of Counterterrorism on the National Security Council, to discuss Friday's horrific ISIS terror attacks at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia. Javed and A'ndre discuss what ISIS-K is, and how the Afghan-based group is different from the 'core' ISIS that has operated in Iraq and Syria. Javed outlines how ISIS-K has grown in recent years and their abilities to plot attacks outside of their locality, citing the recent ISIS-K suicide bombings in Iran and foiled plots in Europe. A'ndre and Javed also chat about how U.S. Intelligence warned both Russia and Iran in the days preceding the respective ISIS-K attacks and how the Afghanistan withdrawal has affected intelligence gathering. Javed provides his take on the profiles of those who have conducted ISIS-K's attacks, and whether the tactics taken in Moscow bear parallels to the 2015 Paris Attacks or 2008's 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.