On a recent episode of the Lawfare Daily podcast, foreign policy editor Daniel Byman sat down with Peter Bergen, author of "All the Presidents' Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America's War on Terror." The discussion offers a progress report on counterterrorism a quarter-century after the September 11 attacks, reviewing the many mistakes the United States and al-Qaeda made along the way, as well as some of the surprising successes.
Bergen, a vice president at New America and a national security analyst for CNN, also draws lessons from the war in Iran today for how to better respond to a future terrorist attack. The episode frames the current conflict as a reference point for shaping U.S. policy after any major terrorist strike.
The conversation is part of Lawfare's ongoing coverage of armed conflict and terrorism, and the episode description highlights both the strategic failures and the unexpected achievements that have defined the post-9/11 era. No competing sources were included, so the analysis reflects only the views presented in this podcast episode.