Richard A. Clarke

Cyber warfare is at the intersection of innovation and danger, and questions loom large about the role of cyberspace in tense U.S. geopolitics with actors like Iran. New technologies have facilitated unprecedented levels of connectivity, but sophisticated groups, including state-sponsored hackers, pose cyber threats for which we have not prepared. Richard Clarke, former U.S. national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism, takes us behind the scenes with the scientists, executives and government officials at the forefront of developing the technologies and cultures of security necessary to reduce risk.

In January, the US and Iran were hours away from war, perhaps the closest to open conflict the two states had come since Iranian revolutionaries took American hostages in 1979. In the wake of Suleimani’s death, Tehran decided not to escalate immediately, but does that mean it will back down over the longer term? Richard Clarke, having served five presidents as a senior State Department official and as an advisor in the West Wing, believes that a war with Iran may still be coming. This could mean serious problems for the United States, including cyber attacks and possible acts of terrorism on its soil.

For over thirty years as an intelligence analyst, policy maker, and counterterrorism official, Clarke tracked US-Iranian relations from inside the government. Now, as Chairman of the Middle East Institute, he is a sought-after expert on the likelihood for and possible outcomes of such a conflict. In his presentation, “Testing Tehran: When and How We Should Do It,” Clarke discusses our government’s ability to manage growing instability and provides a sobering exposition of escalation’s risks.

The Wuhan Coronavirus. The 2008 global recession. The Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Boeing 737 Max’s fatal system failures. Each of these events shocked the world, each was predicted by a credible expert, and each occurred because the warnings fell on deaf ears, claims the man who warned Presidents about al Qaeda and bin Ladin before 9-11.

Whether in politics, physics, or economics, organizations do not independently fail to suspect pending disasters. Decision-makers at institutions of all kinds tend to resist hearing and acting on credible warnings, making crises phenomenological and systemic rather than coincidental and unavoidable. In his presentation, “Silenced Alarms,” Clarke will draw on his 30 years of service to the State Department and White House, on his experiences as a risk management consultant, and on his research for Warnings to reconsider which crises are really inevitable.

The first American president Richard Clarke saw was John F. Kennedy, a football field between them in the Boston College stadium. At the time, Clarke did not imagine he would wind up in the West Wing seeing the Commander-in-Chief on a daily basis. Over his thirty years of service, Clarke served five presidents. From negotiating American bases ahead of the First Gulf War, to writing policy on the internet’s threat to critical infrastructure, to quarterbacking the country’s response on 9-11, few have influenced presidential decision-making to the extent Clarke has.

Since leaving government, Clarke has authored nine books, including the international bestseller, Against All Enemies, and his latest, The Fifth Domain. His thousands of pages feature many stories about American presidents, and describe the ways those men made the Office. In the present administration, the Office has made the man. As the 2020 election turns into a referendum on Donald Trump and the sanctity of America’s most defining principles, Clarke draws on his intimate understanding of executive politics to discuss precisely what is at stake in this historical moment.

There is a weight one carries while standing in the Situation Room deciding who would and who could not be saved. On September 11, 2001, Richard Clarke carried that weight, assuming the responsibility of avoiding further catastrophe in the midst of an unfolding calamity. As Special Advisor to the President and Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism, Clarke helped manage and avert national security threats for more than thirty years of government service.

As the leader of a security risk management consulting group, he has found that the risk assessment and disaster preparation frameworks Clarke used “inside” to make life-or-death decisions can be applied beyond the West Wing. Be it a CEO deciding to pay ransom after a cyber attack, or TSA executing security measures during a pandemic, Clarke’s presentation will detail how organizations of all kinds currently and can better detect, prevent, and respond to crises.

“The War on Terrorism isn’t over, it’s just on pause.” That is the stark prediction of the man who warned Presidents about al Qaeda and bin Ladin well before 9-11. Is he right again and, if so, what should we be doing to prevent further disaster? Richard Clarke, former U.S. national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism, and current Chairman at the Middle East Institute, believes that terrorist organizations will only grow stronger if the political conditions fostering them remain unaddressed.

From combatting Colombian cartels to directing operations from the White House bomb shelter on 9/11, Clarke is regarded as among the most influential and tenured counterterrorism officials to have served the U.S. government. As technology expands the attack surface for extremist groups and amplifies the shocks of terrorist events on the global economy, “Terrorism’s Next Wave” will examine the root causes of violent extremism the global community must consider.

Drawn from his own experience managing dozens of crises in the State Department and the White House, and from his work as an adviser to major corporations, Clarke’s laws are the definitive Dos and Don’ts for any leadership group that could suddenly find itself in the headlights of a crisis.

From the Chairman of the Middle East Institute, and the man who warned America about Al Qaeda and Osama bin Ladin well before 9/11, comes a new warning that neither ISIS nor Al Qaeda is fully defeated. Both can roar back, but there is another terrorist threat even more likely to put America at risk.

Risk management may depend upon listening in unlikely places for intelligence about impending catastrophes. Drawing on his book Warnings, Clarke reviews case studies of corporate and government leaders who could not see “the writing on the wall” and suggests how to avoid their fate.

Ten years ago, in the seminal book Cyber War, America’s first cyber czar predicted how hacker groups and nation-states would put America’s companies, power grid, and critical infrastructure at risk. Now, that has happened. Drawing from his new book The Fifth Domain, Clarke outlines how to protect our country, our companies, and ourselves.