8:00 – 9:00 AM Registration & Networking 

9:00 – 9:20 AM Welcome: The 2026 Global Threat Picture 

Kristina Tanasichuk, Executive Editor, Homeland Security Today  

Dr. Mahmut Cengiz, Managing Editor, Counterterrorism Vertical, Homeland Security Today; Research Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University 

9:20 – 9:50 AM Opening Keynote: Trends and Terrorism Forecasts  

Mark Dargis, Operations Director, National Security Branch, Federal Bureau of Investigation  

9:50 – 10:50 AM Iran’s Proxy Warfare & Escalation Dynamics 

Nawar Shora, JD, Author, Muslims, Arabs, and Arab-Americans: A Quick Guide to Islamic and Arabic Cultures 

Jay Solomon, Executive Head of Investigations, George Washington University; Former Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal 

Phillip Smyth, Former Soref Fellow, The Washington Institute; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism, Homeland Security Today 

Mohammed Al-Basha, Founder, The Basha Report; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism, Homeland Security Today 

Ebrahim Roshandel, Former Iranian Diplomat; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism, Homeland Security Today 

K. Campbell, Principal, Blue Glacier Security & Intelligence 

10: 50 AM – 11:00 AM Break 

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM The Global Salafi-Jihadist Ecosystem 

Moderator: Daniel Eizenga, Research Fellow, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University 

Tricia Bacon PhD, Professor, Justice, Law, Criminology, and Security, American University; Director, American University’s Open Source Intelligence & Analysis Hub (AURORA) 

Jeff Parsons, Senior Research Fellow, George Washington University; Former Special Agent, FBI 

Pearl Matibe, Foreign Policy & Security Analyst, Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center  

Mohamed Abdurahman, Journalist and East Africa Analyst 

Key Takeaways:  

• Al-Qaeda network resilience 

• Islamic State affiliates & external plotting 

• Sahel and Afghanistan threat vectors 

• Leadership decapitation: still effective? 

12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch 

1:00 – 2:00 PM Terrorist Financing  

Dawson Law, Founder, Conseil Global Advisors; former Representative to the United Kingdom U.S. Department of Treasury  

Ari Redbord, former Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary & Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, U.S. Treasury 

Matthew Levitt, Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow; Director, Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, The Washington Institute 

Key Takeaways: 

• Crypto and decentralized finance 

• Sanctions evasion models 

• Hawala and informal networks 

• Terrorist designations & cartel implications 

• Financial intelligence coordination 

2:00 – 2:20 PM The Era of the Agentic Analyst- Leveraging AI Agents to Accelerate Intelligence Analysis 

Martin So, Co-Founder, Pantoptica Tech  

2:20 – 3:20 PM Mexico: Cartels as Terror/Transnational Threats 

Peter Reuter, Professor, School of Public Policy & Department of Criminology, University of Maryland 

Evan Ellis, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Americas Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies  

Jake Braun, Executive Director, Cyber Policy Initiative, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago; Author, Fentanyl; CEO, Cambridge Global Advisors; former Acting Principal Deputy National Cyber Director, the White House; former Senior Counselor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security  

Key Takeaways:  

• Rationale and diplomatic impact of cartel terrorist designations 

• Legal and enforcement consequences (prosecutions, sanctions) 

• Cartel violence and terror-style tactics 

• Effects on regional stability and trafficking networks 

• U.S.–Mexico counterterrorism coordination challenges 

3:20 – 4:20 PM Current Trends in Radicalization 

Dexter Ingram, Former Director, Office of Violent Extremism; Former Acting Director, Office of the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, U.S. Department of State; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism, Homeland Security Today 

Mubin Shaikh, former Undercover Counterterrorism Operative, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS); Editor-at-Large, Intervention, Homeland Security Today 

Rick Shaw, Pre-Incident Prevention Specialist/Coach; Author, The First Preventers Playbook; Creator of The First Preventers Framework 

Captain Matthew Turner, Active-Duty Army Physician, Emergency Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Hospital 

Key Takeaways: 

• Digital recruitment ecosystems 

• Algorithmic amplification 

• AI-generated propaganda 

• Cross-ideological grievance narratives 

• Counter-messaging frameworks 

Join us at Salt Line for Happy Hour Afterwards!  

 April 21: Domestic Threats, Radicalization & Emerging Capabilities 

8:00 – 9:00 AM: Registration and Networking  

9:00 – 9:15 AM: Welcome  

Kristina Tanasichuk, Executive Editor, Homeland Security Today  

Dr. Mahmut Cengiz, Managing Editor, Counterterrorism Vertical, Homeland Security Today; Research Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University 

9:15 – 10:15 AM The U.S. Domestic Threat Landscape 

Jonathan Lewis, Research Fellow, Program on Extremism, George Washington University 

Aurora Ortega, PhD candidate, Public Policy Program, George Mason University 

Brandon W. Graham, CBRN Unit, Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) 

David A. Tyree, Director of Financial Crimes Strategy, DataWalk; Former Senior Investigator, Drug and Enforcement Agency 

Key Takeaways:  

• Right-wing accelerationism 

• 764 

• Left-wing violent extremism 

• Lone actor mobilization 

• Domestic financing streams 

10:15 AM – 10:30 Break 

10:30– 11:30 AM  Protecting Critical Infrastructure in a Multi-Domain Threat Environment 

Moderator: Kelly Murray, Co-Founder, Center for Cross Sector Coordination; former Associate Director for Chemical Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 

Dennis Alexander, Independent Researcher and Homeland Security Contributor 

Tina Barton, Co-Chair, Committee for Safe and Secure Elections 

Brett T. Walkenhorst, Chief Technology Officer, Bastille Networks 

Joshua Sinai, PhD, Professor of Practice, Intelligence & Global Security Studies, Capitol Technology University 

Kawika Lau, Keynote Speaker & Former Senior Instructor, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Leadership Institute 

Key Takeaways:  

• Integrating behavioral, financial, and digital indicators for early threat detection 

• Disrupting and preventing attackers before operationalization 

• Election security under pressure: protecting critical election infrastructure 

• Wireless as an attack surface: vulnerabilities in trusted environments 

• Data exploitation and gaps in current security models 

• Applying a security risk management framework to assess effectiveness in government counterterrorism campaigns 

11:30 – 12:15 PM Narratives & Strategic Influence  

Nikki Rutman, Managing Partner, Global Intelligence & Investigations, Sentinel   

Claire Moravec, Director, Intelligence Operations for Social Media Exploitation, Sentinel; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism, Homeland Security Today  

Dr. Suha Hassen, Adjunct Faculty, American Public University System; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism Homeland Security Today 

12:15 – 1:30 PM Networking Lunch 

1:30 – 2:30 PM Cyber & AI in the Terrorism Battlespace 

Moderator: Dr. Scott J. White, Program Director, Cybersecurity Bachelor of Professional Studies; Associate Professor, George Washington University 

Dr. Tamara Schwartz, Associate Professor of Cybersecurity and Strategy, York College of Pennsylvania; Affiliate Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Interdisciplinary Consortium for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, U.S. Air Force (ret) 

Key Takeaways:  

• Encrypted platforms 

• Deepfakes and disinformation 

• Critical infrastructure targeting 

• AI-enabled counterterrorism analytics 

2:30 – 3:30 PM U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy & Mega-Event Security 

Moderator: Kristin Kelly Shapiro, Former SES, Counterterrorism Division, FBI; Associate Director, Defense and Security, Guidehouse; Editorial Board Member, Counterterrorism, HSToday 

Col. Chris Costa, Executive Director, International Spy Museum; former Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Counterterrorism, National Security Council, 2017-18 

Dave Scott, former Assistant Director, Counterterrorism, Federal Bureau of Investigation 

Key Takeaways 

• Over-the-horizon counterterrorism and strategic competition 

• Threat prioritization across key regions 

• Intelligence integration and interagency coordination 

• Securing the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics 

• Counter-drone and emerging technology mitigation 

• Protection of soft targets and mass gatherings 

3:30 – 3:55 PM Closing Remarks 

Kristina Tanasichuk, Executive Editor, Homeland Security Today  

Dr. Mahmut Cengiz, Managing Editor, Counterterrorism Vertical, Homeland Security Today; Research Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University