The scariest part of the future of terrorism, lecturer James Carafano said, is that he has no idea what it will look like.
“Today, there are more terrorists worldwide than there were in 2008,” he said. “There are more deaths from terrorism. There are more terrorist plots against the United States. We’re at this place where we’re getting ready to go into a new phase of terrorism.”
On Monday, the professor at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., spoke on foreign policy to a classroom stuffed with 50 students for Hillsdale College’s Young Americans for Freedom and the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program. Carafano is the vice president of foreign policy and defense studies at The Heritage Foundation.
He illustrated the rising and falling trends of terrorist attacks in America with a curve and highlighted significant years in the timeline, including the decreased activity leading to 9/11. Additionally, Carafano commented on the present state of global terrorism and how it affects America.
“Carafano did a phenomenal job analyzing the U.S. foreign policy situation in the Middle East as well as with respect towards Russia and Kurdistan,” junior Razi Lane said.
Carafano normally teaches classes on national security for students partaking in WHIP. The program allows those students to take courses with Hillsdale at its Kirby Center while interning for a semester in the nation’s capital.
“Dr. Carafano is an expert on pretty much all things foreign policy related,” junior Jack Sinko said. “Especially when it has to do with uses of force and military intervention. Having been an Army lieutenant colonel himself, he brought real life experience and substance to his classes that most professors can’t provide.”
Senior Gwendolyn Hodge attended the lecture and also participated in WHIP. She said Carafano inspired students to take a closer look at national security.
“The structure of our nation’s security can sometimes be a dry or tedious subject,” she said. “Carafano gave it life and triggered our thirsts to learn more about foreign policy.”
