Erik J. Dahl
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006-2008
Experience
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006-2008
Current Affiliation: Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
AP Photo
May 5, 2008
Preventing Terrorist Attacks: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom
Policy Memo
By Erik J. Dahl, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006-2008
Why do terrorist attacks frequently succeed, even though later investigations almost always show that warnings had been available but were either misunderstood or ignored? Conventional wisdom, as seen in the 9/11 Commission Report, holds that disasters such as the 9/11 attacks have been caused by failures of analytical imagination, a lack of long-term strategic intelligence on the threat, and organizational limitations that prevent the U.S. intelligence community from being able to “connect the dots” of the existing intelligence.
