Directed by Dr. Mark Galeotti, a CGA clinical professor and world-renowned security expert in transnational crime, nonconventional conflict and Russian security affairs, ISET is a direct outcome of the center’s mission to understand and to predict nontraditional and new security threats, while exploring responses to these challenges.
“From terrorism to climate change, ‘hybrid war’ to pandemics, cyberterror to corruption, threats are emerging from every part of the world and every aspect of modern life,” asserted Galeotti. “Yet the paradox is that at the same time, we have unparalleled resources with which to address them, whether with the raw power ofa modern military force or the massive opportunities to improve governance, legitimacy, and cohesion in parts of the world that are at risk of becoming failed states and bandit havens.”
Among the issues ISET will tackle are transnational crime, including the trafficking of drugs, people and weapons; financial crime and money laundering; corruption, especially as it impacts aid, development and governance; the changing face of war and its growing overlap with terrorism and insurgency; cybercrime, cyberwar and cyberterrorism; information warfare and subversion; and the increasing use of covert means and non-state agents by states.
ISET will publish curated working papers from faculty members, students and affiliates on these themes, hold and publicize public events, publish instant responses and commentaries on breaking security news, and support the CGA mission of developing and spreading the knowledge and skills needed to address the challenges of the future through the practical education provided by both its MS in Global Affairs and the Graduate Certificate in Transnational Security.
To mark the launch of ISET, the NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs will present “Modern World – Modern Threats? Responses to Hybrid Aggression,” on Monday, September 28, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm, at the SUNY College of Optometry.
During the event, Galeotti will interview Toomas Hendrik Ilves, president of the Republic of Estonia and a noted expert and commentator in a range of fields—from cybersecurity and e-government, to trans-Atlantic relations and Russia’s policies towards NATO and the Baltic.
Ilves will address the security challenges of the modern world and, in particular, how Western, democratic societies can address the diverse and blended “hybrid” threat posed most recently by Russia.
