Farah Pandith Presents A Fresh Approach to Combating Violent Extremism

On Tuesday, March 12, Farah Pandith will be at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum discussing her new book, “How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat,” with Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs.

Pandith’s book draws on her experience as a diplomatic entrepreneur, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat, calling for a coordinated, at-scale approach to countering the ideology of violent extremism. Pandith presents a fresh analysis of global extremism as well as her experience of powerful but seldom-used strategies for vanquishing it. Having visited 80 countries, conducted hundreds of interviews and focus groups around the world, and served in high-level positions within the Bush and Obama administrations, Pandith argues for a paradigm shift in our approach to combat extremism, one that mobilizes the expertise and resources of diplomats, corporate leaders, mental health experts, social scientists, entrepreneurs, local communities, and most of all global youth themselves. 

A world-leading expert and pioneer in countering violent extremism, Pandith is a frequent media commentator and public speaker. She served as a political appointee under presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. She was the first-ever special representative to Muslim communities, serving both secretaries Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Under President George W. Bush, Pandith was the director for Middle East Regional Initiatives at the National Security Council and the chief of staff at the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Asia and the Near East. She has also served on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, chairing its task force on countering violent extremism. She is a senior fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Gideon Rose is the editor of Foreign Affairs and the Peter G. Peterson chair. He served as managing editor of the magazine from 2000 to 2010. Prior to this, he was the Olin senior fellow and deputy director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. From 1994 to 1995, Rose served as associate director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He was assistant editor at the foreign policy quarterly the National Interest from 1986 to 1987 and held the same position at the domestic policy quarterly the Public Interest from 1985 to 1986. He received his B.A. in classics from Yale and his PhD in government from Harvard and has taught American foreign policy at Columbia and Princeton.

Join us March 12 for “How We Win,” or livestream the program here.

By Ruth Dewa Ayu, Assistant Director of Public Programs, 9/11 Memorial & Museum