STS | The Taliban Redux: The Future of Counterterrorism in a Taliban Controlled Afghanistan

Notre Dame International Security Center

The episode considers the future of counterterrorism in the context of a Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Beginning with a discussion of how the Taliban was able to regain control so swiftly, the podcast draws on the counterterrorism knowledge and expertise of the FBI’s Former Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Mike McGarrity to explore how the landscapes of counterterrorism and counterintelligence have shifted. Interviewer: Nick Carter Interviewee: Mike McGarrity Official Title: Former Assistant Director for Counterterrorism at the FBI Biography: Mike McGarrity served as the FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterterrorism, managing the Bureau’s global counterterrorism operation for two years between 2018 and 2019. Mr. McGarrity’s 23 year tenure with the FBI began when he joined the New York field office in 1996, where he investigated violent gangs, drug organizations, and international money laundering networks. In 2003, he moved to the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, where he participated in numerous international terrorism investigations. Over the next decade and a half, Mr. McGarrity served in a number of critical leadership positions at the Bureau. He was the FBI’s Supervisory Special Agent at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, the deputy on-scene commander in Afghanistan, the Assistant Section Chief for the Counterterrorism Division of the International Terrorism Operations Section, the Director of Counterterrorism at the White House’s National Security Council, and the FBI’s legal attaché in Swizterland. In 2015, he became the first director of the U.S. Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, a complex multi-agency task-force dedicated to recovering American hostages abducted abroad. He has been recognized by the President and Director of the FBI Christopher Wray for his work. Mr. McGarrity holds a J.D. and a B.A. in economics from The Catholic University of America. He is a graduate of the Government Senior Executive Program in National Security at the Harvard Kennedy School and Northwestern Kellog’s Navigating Strategic Change Program. He is currently a member of the Atlantic Council’s Counterterrorism Working Group and the International Association of Chiefs of Police Committee on Counterterrorism. He’s worked in the private sector since 2020.