June 6, 2006

A Meeting of the Minds at La Pietra

In May, the NYU School of Law's Center on Law and Security assembled leading counterterrorism officials and policymakers from Europe and the United States at the University's La Pietra campus in Florence, Italy for the purposes of continuing a constructive dialogue regarding important developments in the global war on terror.

Topics discussed included: the new face of radicalism in Europe and the United States; lessons learned from recent terrorist attacks in Europe (the London and Madrid bombings); the Middle East and terrorism today; detention and interrogation policies; and new legal challenges arising in the struggle against terrorism.

Among the participants were experts from the legal, judicial and law enforcement communities, including U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement; Judge Baltasar Garzón from Spain, a distinguished fellow at the center; Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiére from France; Judge Armando Spataro from Italy; Peter Clarke, deputy commissioner for counterterrorism for New Scotland Yard; Joshua Dratel, defense counsel for some detainees; and former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism Michael Sheehan who recently joined the center as a distinguished fellow.

Another notable aspect of the La Pietra conference was the presence of journalists distinguished for their coverage of the war on terror.  Among those attending were Peter Bergen of CNN, Yosri Fouda of Al Jeezera, Salameh Nematt of Al Hayat and Jane Mayer of the New Yorker.

In addition, several officials from the United States Department of Justice, Department of Defense, State Department and Treasury Department also participated, as did scholars of Muslim culture and a variety of experts on Muslim communities, terrorism and U.S. counterterrorism policies.

Two of the center’s faculty codirectors, Professors Stephen Holmes and Richard Pildes, and Executive Director Karen Greenberg, hosted the event.

Read a New York Times story on the conference [subscription required]