A New York Times reporter, while visiting Syracuse University on Monday, said a holistic policy approach is the best way to approach counterterrorism efforts in the United States.

Eric Schmitt, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, spoke about President Donald Trump’s foreign policy during a lecture Monday evening at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. 

Schmitt, who covers national security and terrorism for The New York Times, has traveled on assignment to several countries, including Afghanistan and Qatar.

Much of his lecture focused on categorizing and explaining three main “baskets” of terrorism threats facing the United States: threats inside the country, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and Al-Qaeda affiliates.

Regarding terrorist affiliates, Schmitt said the U.S. is currently battling more than six terror groups with few members. These affiliate groups operate in countries including Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Syria.

Domestic threats, meanwhile, often fit in two categories: Individuals are either inspired by what they see in the media, or they are enabled by online handlers in Syria, Schmitt said. He added that handlers might aid domestic terrorists by helping them purchase explosives and explaining how to use them.

“These are the threats that FBI and local law enforcement worry about the most,” Schmitt said.

On Trump, Schmitt said Trump wants to increase military spending. And, to the dismay of his foreign policy advisers, the president also wants to decrease the budgets for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development, Schmitt said.

These agencies, Schmitt said, are leaders in countering and researching the ideology spread by terrorist ideals on social media and the Internet.

Schmitt said a holistic policy approach is the best way to fight terrorism. This approach, he said, takes time. He said it requires military, intelligence and law enforcement groups working with each other, but also with other countries. Terrorism is a transnational problem, he said.

“The big takeaway over the last decade and a half is you can’t kill your way to victory. That was a mistake I think the military and the government initially made,” Schmitt said. “Terrorists just generate more.”

Returning to normalcy after terrorist attacks is important, he added, referencing Theresa May — the United Kingdom’s prime minister — and her words following a recent attack in Britain. Schmitt said maintaining normalcy is the most difficult challenge, but overreacting to violence is exactly what terrorists want.

“We have to understand that these attacks will continue,” Schmitt said. “It’s this resilience that we have to instill, and that’s a very hard political concept for our leaders to say.”

The Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair sponsored Monday’s lecture. Co-sponsors included the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism and the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media. Following Schmitt’s lecture, students asked questions and joined Schmitt at a reception.

When asked why he took the time to visit SU, Schmitt said it’s important to get out and explain journalists’ jobs.

“There are a lot of things going on, whether it’s the fight against the Islamic State, or whether it’s the crisis in North Korea,” Schmitt said. “The New York Times and other newspapers are spending even more resources to really dig down and find the deep, deep story and really reveal the truth about what’s going on in important national security issues.”

Published on October 2, 2017 at 11:39 pm

Contact Ashleigh: amgarris@syr.edu