August 17, 2011

September 11—A Decade Later: Lessons for the Future

We would like to share with you the following message to donors from Yaron Brook.

Dear Contributor:

I am pleased to announce that ARC will hold a half-day conference marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, titled “September 11—A Decade Later: Lessons for the Future.”

In the wake of the horrific attacks of September 11, we began a series of efforts intended to clearly identify both the source of the attacks and the proper response to the immediate and future threat. Our efforts began with placing full-page ads in major newspapers—Leonard Peikoff’s essay, “End States Who Sponsor Terrorism.” We continued throughout the decade with scores of talks, panel discussions, a 2005 conference in Boston on Islamic totalitarianism, and more than 200 op-eds, press releases and letters to the editor. In 2009 we published Winning the Unwinnable War: America’s Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism, edited by ARC’s Elan Journo.

Unfortunately, progress in the war against Islamic totalitarianism has been painfully slow; the threat remains severe, and the stakes remain high.

The goal of our conference, which will be held in Washington, D.C. on September 8, is to evaluate past policy and events—both in the United States and in the Middle East—over the past decade, take stock of recent developments in particular and discuss the way forward for U.S. policy in the region.

We believe this conference can impact and influence current debate in the sphere of foreign policy, bringing together influencers, congressional staffers, and others. We also hope to attract significant numbers of students and like-minded activists from the Washington, D.C. area. We see substantial benefit in the networking and coalition-building opportunities that would arise, with opportunities for leveraging each others’ efforts going forward.

Conference participants will include Elan Journo, John David Lewis of Duke University, and me, as well as Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum; Ilan I. Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council; Efraim Karsh, professor and head of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies, King’s College, London; Clare Lopez, senior fellow, Center for Security Policy; Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; and Michael Rubin, senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Civil-Military Relations and senior editor of Middle East Quarterly; and Peter Brookes, senior fellow for national security affairs at The Heritage Foundation. As you can see, we have assembled a truly world-class group of expert panelists, which should make this an outstanding event!

We also propose livestreaming the conference over the Internet (increasing our reach across the country and around the world), and producing audio and video recordings for our ARC-TV.com website, and for CDs and DVDs, of the conference. Long term, we envision a series of follow-up meetings and events in support of the conference’s objectives.

We are working to raise $35,000 for the conference and related activities; your support would be greatly appreciated.

Ten years after the September 11 attacks, it has never been more important to review the decade that has passed—to assess what has happened, objectively define the continued and growing threat, and to chart the path forward for America and the West.

Thank for your consideration and support! 

Sincerely,

Yaron Brook
President and Executive Director

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