Restoring deterrence should be America’s most urgent task in 2024

The coming of the new year is an appropriate time for retrospection.

I’ve been thinking about December 2001. Like many Americans, I was traumatized by the horrific images of the Sept. 11 attacks.

And like many Americans, I wanted to do something useful in response.

I was pretty sure I wouldn’t make the cut for Delta Force. But, with help from former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and former Rep. Jack Kemp, I began setting up a research institute to study the regimes, organizations and ideologies driving and justifying terrorism, formulate policy options, and help educate elite and general audiences.