“It settles down into the unconscious,” he says. “I’m teaching a class on emotions this fall, and that’s one of the points—the emotions you feel have to do with how a situation is framed. It’s like the old subliminal advertising thing.”

For Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, threats to democracy from disinformation are vast and real, but voters and election officials have never been more vigilant.

“Look, we know we’re being spun,” says Greenberg, co-editor of Our Nation at Risk: Election Integrity as a National Security Issue. 

“The question is, can we step back for a moment and say, ‘I know I’m being spun. How do I either ignore this and move on to something else, or how do I put this in a category where I know that this is likely disinformation or misinformation and see what I can do to verify it?’”

Here are some tips Greenberg and Davenport shared to help you stay aware of—and minimally influenced by—disinformation this election season.

Be skeptical of new messages about the election—and their messengers.

“Whenever you see new information about the election, really close to the election, you should be suspicious,” says Davenport, who directs Fordham’s Peace and Justice studies program and is a frequent political commentator for publications like Newsweek and America. “If there’s some new news source that you’re just seeing for the first time this fall, and you have questions, google them and find if there are any reports about this source.”

On social networks, he says, keep an eye out for new friend and follow requests from people and groups you don’t know, and “just be conscious that you are being manipulated by algorithms, and their goal is to addict you to hateful content because that’s what sells.”

Greenberg notes that there are laws in place against promoting disinformation related to elections, but they’re hard to enforce without buy-in from private companies. 

Don’t let disinformation lessen your belief in objective facts.

As deepfakes, doctored photos, and AI-generated images flourish, it may feel tempting to dismiss the possibility of objective truth in the media we consume. Davenport cautions against this kind of wholesale skepticism, though.

Disinformation campaigns often try to foster chaos and confusion, Greenberg says, and create the sense that “a country can’t quite hold it together through a transition period.”

“There has to be a counternarrative to ‘we’re doomed, we’re victims,’ she says. “We’re not victims.”  

Be patient at the polls.

No matter how well-trained volunteer poll workers are, it’s going to be hard to prepare them for “any kind of aberrations that come up because of misinformation,” Greenberg says. “Go early … and just be patient.”  

And don’t be deterred, Davenport adds. 

“Don’t be scared away. Even if you see something telling you that the line at your polling place is two hours long.”  

Take advantage of available election resources.

Despite all the worries that election disinformation sparks in experts, Greenberg is heartened by what she says is “an incredible amount of attention” being paid to the issue by voters, law enforcement, and election officials. And she feels confident that voters are, on the whole, savvy enough to have their antennae up. 

To stay informed, she recommends resources like Election Law Blog and Democracy Docket. And Davenport points out that contacting your county clerk’s office—or checking its website—is a good way to get any necessary information about voting.  “We still need to tell people about the threats,” he says, “but then with that, we can say, ‘And here’s how you can find reliable sources on these topics.’”

And misinformation, they said, has the potential to do enormous damage.

“It’s a threat because what you’re trying to do is educate the citizenry about who would make the best leader for the future,” said Karen Greenberg, head of Fordham’s Center on National Security.

Greenberg, the author of Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump (Princeton University Press, 2021), is currently co-editing the book Our Nation at Risk: Election Integrity as a National Security Issue, which will be published in July by NYU Press.

“You do want citizens to think there is a way to know what is real, and that’s the thing I think we’re struggling with,” she said.

At the International Conference on Cyber Security held at Fordham earlier this month, FBI Director Chris Wray and NSA Director General Paul Nakasone spoke about the possibility of misinformation leading to the chaos around the U.S. election in a fireside chat with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. But politics was also a theme in other ICCS sessions.

Anthony Ferrante, FCRH ‘01, GSAS ‘04, global head of cybersecurity for the management consulting firm FTI, predicted this year would be like no other, in part because of how easy artificial intelligence makes it to create false–but realistic—audio, video, and images, sometimes known as deepfakes.

The Deepfake Defense

“I think we should buckle up. I think we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg, and that AI is going to change everything we do,” Ferrante said.

In another session, John Miller, chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst for CNN, said major news outlets are acutely aware of the danger of sharing deepfakes with viewers.

“We spend a lot of time on CNN getting some piece of dynamite with a fuse burning on it that’s really hot news, and we say, ‘Before we go with this, we really have to vet our way backward and make sure this is real,’” he said.

He noted that if former President Donald Trump were caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women, as he was in 2016, he would probably respond differently today.

“Rather than try to defend that statement as locker room talk, he would have simply said, ‘That’s the craziest thing anybody ever said; that’s a deepfake,” he said.

In fact, this month, political operative Roger Stone claimed this very defense when it was revealed that the F.B.I. is investigating remarks he made calling for the deaths of two Democratic lawmakers. And on Monday, it was reported that days before they would vote in their presidential primary elections, voters in New Hampshire received robocall messages in a voice that was most likely artificially generated to impersonate President Biden’s, urging them not to vote in the election.

A Reason for Hope

In spite of this, Greenberg is optimistic that forensic tools will continue to be developed that can weed out fakes, and that they contribute to people’s trust in their news sources.

“We have a lot of incredibly sophisticated people in the United States and elsewhere who understand the risks and know how to work together, and the ways in which the public sector and private sector have been able to share best practices give me hope,” she said.

“I’m hopeful we’re moving toward a conversation in which we can understand the threat and appreciate the ways in which we are protected.”

TYLER STOVALL
Revolution of One
The Nation 12-11-21
Tyler Stovall was a professor of history and the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. His most recent book is White Freedom: the Racial History of an Idea. He died last week, on Friday, December 10, at the age of 67. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

ARNALDO CRUZ-MALAVE
Many Latinos say ‘Latinx’ offends or bothers them. Here’s why.
NBC News 12-14-21
Latinx proponent Arnaldo Cruz-Malave, a professor at Fordham University, says the use of Latinx “has only picked up momentum with the struggles for queer and trans rights in the past decade both in Latin America and the U.S.”

Denzel Washington Isn’t Afraid To Say “Macbeth” Out Loud In A Theater
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 12-15-21
“… And starting years ago, when you were in college at Fordham.. [Colbert shows Denzel a photo of him in a Fordham Theatre play] there’s your first production in college, right?”

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

Pilot program offers free access to the internet in Yonkers
News 12 Westchester 12-14-2021
The Westchester County Association [along with partners organizations and institutions, such as Fordham University]is spearheading this pilot project, with a $450,000 grant from a nonprofit called U.S. Ignite.

Spikes in COVID cases among young people hit some hospitals, schools hard
CNY Central 12-15-21
Fordham University has just announced that all faculty, staff and students will now be required to get a booster shot before returning to campus in the spring. More than 20 colleges now require them.

A Trove of Artifacts Officials Call ‘Stolen’ Are Returned to Italy
The New York Times 12-15-21
The Museum of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Art at Fordham University surrendered roughly a hundred items, including this hydria, or water jar, depicting the deeds of Hercules.

SCHOOL OF LAW FACULTY

BENNETT CAPERS
The inequality, frustration, suffering and work that led to 2020’s protests
The Washington Post 12-10-21
Bennett Capers is a professor of law at Fordham Law School and the director of the Center on Race, Law and Justice. He is the author of the forthcoming book “The Prosecutor’s Turn.”

ZEPHYR TEACHOUT
Zephyr Teachout exits race for New York attorney general
AP News 12-12-21
Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout has officially dropped out of the race to be New York’s attorney general, days after incumbent Letitia James decided to seek reelection.

ZEPHYR TEACHOUT
Look Out, Big Tech, We’re Coming for You
New Republic 12-10-21
Zephyr Teachout is a professor at Fordham University School of Law, and the author of Corruption in America (2014) and Break ‘Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom From Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money (2020).

KAREN GREENBERG
Here’s How We End America’s Forever Wars
The Nation 12-13-21
Karen J. Greenberg is director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School. She is the author of The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First 100 Days, Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State, and most recently, Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump.

LAWRENCE BRENNAN
Navy hearing will decide if a sailor should face court martial for ship fire
NPR 12-13-21
Lawrence Brennan is a former naval officer and a law professor at Fordham University.
“If the accused is truly guilty of igniting a fire that caused damage and intended to do it, that’s a crime. But is the captain, the executive officer, the command duty officer – are they culpable in a criminal sense?”

GABELLI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FACULTY

KEVIN MIRABILE
Inside Alts, an Email Community Dedicated to the Fascinating World of Alternative Assets
Money.com 12-10-21
“Millennials think about investments that are more aligned with lifestyle,” Mirabile says. “That has put a lot of these asset classes on the map.”

ARTS & SCIENCES FACULTY

ARNALDO CRUZ-MALAVE
New ‘West Side Story’ by Steven Spielberg lessens racism in the original, but not enough
NBC News 12-11-21
“No Puerto Rican of a certain age can watch it without cringing,” says Arnaldo Cruz-Malave, a Puerto Rican professor of Latin American and Latinx Studies at Fordham University.

CHRISTIANA ZENNER
EarthBeat Weekly: ‘Pursuit of climate justice is inextricable from the pursuit of racial justice’
Earthbeat Weekly 12-10-21
In matters of environmental and climate justice, words matter, as biologist and ethicist Christiana Zenner of Fordham University said in a presentation about humanitarian action and climate change in October at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

TYLER STOVALL
Revolution of One
The Nation 12-11-21
Tyler Stovall was a professor of history and the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. His most recent book is White Freedom: the Racial History of an Idea. He died last week, on Friday, December 10, at the age of 67. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

ARNALDO CRUZ-MALAVE
Many Latinos say ‘Latinx’ offends or bothers them. Here’s why.
NBC News 12-14-21
Latinx proponent Arnaldo Cruz-Malave, a professor at Fordham University, says the use of Latinx “has only picked up momentum with the struggles for queer and trans rights in the past decade both in Latin America and the U.S.”

ATHLETICS

Kevin Decker discusses installing Josh Heupel’s offense at Fordham
USA Today 12-10-21
Kevin Decker has served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fordham since 2019.

Coach Gregg Popovich took over the Spurs in a controversial move 25 years ago
MySanAntonio.com 12-10-21
As for Bob Hill, he went on to coach at Fordham University before reentering the league to coach the Seattle Supersonics in 2006. He was most-recently the Phoenix Suns assistant coach in 2016.

STUDENTS

From schools to sports, a new wave of COVID-19 disrupts U.S. life
Reuters 12-16-21
Chris Johnson, a sophomore at Fordham University, said he would wait as long as it takes. “I gotta get a test to take my final tomorrow,” he said.

ALUMNI

From Litigation to Salivation: Long Time New York Attorney Publishes Cookbook Featuring Over 70 Original Recipes
Fox 40 12-10-21
She [Danielle Caminiti] is a seasoned legal professional who graduated from Fordham University School of Law and New York University undergraduate, both with honors.

Here’s What a Lot of College Grads Don’t Know About Their First Job Offer
CNBC 12-11-21
Mattathia Komla, a current MBA candidate at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, said after she got her undergraduate degree, she was just happy to get a job. “I didn’t even know what a typical starting salary would be,” Komla said. “I was naïve to the fact that I could negotiate my salary.”

10 Dividend Stock Picks of Billionaire Mario Gabelli
Insider Monkey 12-12-21
Billionaire Mario Joseph Gabelli graduated from Fordham University’s College of Business Administration in 1965 with a summa cum laude. He founded GAMCO Investors, formerly known as Gabelli Asset Management Company, an investment hedge fund based in Rye, New York.

Ocean Power Technologies Appoints Robert Powers As New CFO
The Street 12-13-21
He [Robert P. Powers] received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree from Fordham University and an MBA in Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and he is a Certified Public Accountant.

tarte cosmetics appoints General Counsel
PR Newswire 12-13-21
A graduate of Fordham University School of Law, Iuliano specializes in corporate transactional work and has more than 20 years of experience working at Stone Point Capital, SG Cowen and Dewey Ballantine.

Summer House: Everything To Know About New Castmate Alex Wach
ScreenRant.com 12-11-21
He [Alex Wach] graduated from Fordham University with a degree in economics and mathematics.

Seaman Dankner and the African-American Role in the WWII Coast Guard
The Maritime Executive 12-12-21
One only needs to remember Petty Officer 3rd Class Olivia Hooker, a yeoman and later professor at Fordham University.

Posse Foundation Welcomes New Director to Lead New York Chapter
PR.com 12-13-21
Michell [Tollinchi] received a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from the State University of New York at Albany, a Master’s of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she attended Fordham University where she obtained her Ph.D. in Social Services.

Forthcoming book is a thrilling exploration of policing sex workers in Johannesburg
Human Rights 12-14-21
[India] Thusi earned a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in New York, and Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and Law & Society from University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Edwards bests D’Ambrosio in special state Senate primary, earns 95% of Cambridge vote
WickedLocal.com 12-14-21
[Lydia] Edwards graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and legal policy, American University Washington College of Law with a juris doctorate and the Boston University of Law with a masters of law in taxation.

Skanska Promotes Clark and Doherty to Vice President, Field Operations
ACPpubs.com 12-14-21
She also holds an executive Master of Business Administration in transitional management from Fordham University.

Maple Gold Adds a Second Drill Rig at Douay, Prepares for Phase I Drilling at Eagle, and Announces Board Changes
DMNnews.com 12-14-21
Ms. [Michelle] Roth earned her MBA in Finance from Fordham University.

Matt Lewis returns for third season with Kansas City Comets
The Examiner 12-14-21
Lewis was a three-time Atlantic 10 all-conference selection for Fordham University, where he set program records for starts and appearances.

Denzel Washington’s Next Act Isn’t an Act
Relevant Magazine 12-14-21
He cut his teeth in the title role of Othello while at Fordham University and attended graduate school at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater.

Information Regarding the Sub-Adviser
StreetInsider 12-14-21
Owen [Fitzpatrick] earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and his MBA from Fordham University.

Italy’s Cesena FC Is Set To Be Acquired By American Private Equity Manager Robert Lewis
Forbes 12-14-21
A Georgetown University and Fordham University School of Law graduate, Lewis is fluent in Italian, which will come in handy during his meetings as a new Cesena FC board member.

Michelle Jubelirer Named First Female CEO in 80-Year History of Capitol Music Group
EDM.com 12-15-21
She graduated from Fordham University School of Law with her Juris Doctorate in 1999, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Gov. Mills nominates attorney from Yarmouth as next public advocate
Sun Journal 12-15-21
Harwood, a graduate of Harvard University and Fordham University, lives in Yarmouth with his wife, Ellen, and has five grown children.

OUI the People: A black-woman-owned beauty brand that prioritizes black women
The Grio 12-15-21
“Each OUI The People razor is a modern version of a timeless tool, hand-crafted in Germany with a weighted handle and a special non-aggressive angle,” explained [Karen Young] the Fordham University graduate.

OBITUARIES

John J. O’Connor
Cape Cod Times 12-11-21
He grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Fordham University and went on to earn an MBA.

Brother Thomas P. Lydon C.F.X.
Legacy 12-12-21
Brother Thomas received his bachelor’s degree in 1957 from Catholic University and in 1966 received a master’s degree from Fordham University, both in biology.

James P. Dugan,1929-2021, Former Assemblyman, State Senator, Democratic New Jersey State Party Chair, and Influential Attorney
Insider NJ 12-11-21
Jim was the model of a Jesuit education with St. Peter’s Prep and Fordham Law School in his life. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri. Fordham recognized him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Annetta E. Ducato – Charleroi
The Mon Valley Independent 12-13-21
Annetta also spent one summer studying fashion design at Fordham University in New York City.

Jere Hayden Davis, obituary
Penobscot Bay 12-15-21
During this time, Jere also attended Fordham University and earned a Master of Science Degree from Long Island University.

“Today as we seek to better conceptualize the threats and adversaries that face us all, none seems to be more global, threatening, and in need of attention than today’s cyber environment,” said the event moderator, Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at the School of Law. “Cyber vulnerabilities stand to affect governments, the private sector, institutions, organizations, and individuals—in a nutshell, all of us.” 

The three panelists are leading experts who have dealt with recent hacks. Cristin Flynn Goodwin is the associate general counsel of Microsoft’s digital security unit, where she counters nation-state actors and advanced attacks worldwide. Nowell Agent is a supervisory special agent for the FBI who was instrumental in identifying the Hafnium hack that affected thousands of organizations across the world. Adam R. James is a special agent for the FBI who led the investigation on APT40, a Chinese hacking group that has targeted governmental organizations, companies, and universities. 

The panel began with an overview of the current cyber environment. This year, nation-states like China and Russia have been primarily searching for information, said Goodwin. 

“We saw China very active in trying to gain information about the incoming administration. We saw Russia looking for shifts in U.S. policy relative to sanctions, defense, and NATO,” Goodwin said, adding that members from both nation-states were successful in gaining intel more than 40% of the time. 

One successful cyberattack was the SolarWinds hack, where a group of Russian hackers infiltrated a routine software update from a Texas-based company and gained access to about 18,000 machines. The hackers wanted to know what security teams know about Russian attackers so that they can evade detection, Goodwin said. 

She compared the SolarWinds hack to a scene in the movie Mission: Impossible, where Tom Cruise sneaks through the ceiling with wires and cables. But hacks aren’t usually that dramatic, she said. In most cases, a hacker is like a person walking down the street, trying the door knob to each house until they find an unlocked door, she explained. In other words, they try to break into multiple accounts until they find one with an easy password. 

“You don’t need Tom Cruise when you’ve left your windows and doors open. And so from a [big company’s]perspective, you have to be ready for the ‘Tom Cruise,’ for the most sensitive of situations. But most of the time, this is diet and exercise. This is really being cyber healthy to make it harder for them to have to work—to call out the A-team, Mission: Impossible, to come in and compromise your environment,” Goodwin said. 

This is important because the biggest risk in cybersecurity is literally us—the everyday computer user, said Agent. 

“Business email compromise is still the largest loss leader for cybercrime in America,” Agent said. “Most, almost all of that comes from a spear phishing email to an institution.” 

Agent urged people to implement multi-factor authentication across all accounts and to ensure that their employees understand how to use it. He recalled someone who once received a text message on their phone and clicked on it, nearly leading to a $40 million loss for that person’s company. 

“They didn’t even know what it meant. They thought their administrative assistant was trying to gain access to their account,” Agent said. “They clicked yes, and that gave the actor access to it.”

Special Agent James said that small businesses can better enhance their cybersecurity by reading annual reports like the Microsoft Digital Defense Report—a comprehensive resource from Microsoft security experts that describes the threat environment and how to counter cyber threats—and properly training their employees on how to recognize and avoid cyberattacks.

“You generally have a good information security staff that understands the threats. But like Nowell had pointed out, issues caused by the users are where most of the attacks originate. So pushing down that information in a digestible way to the people that actually may be impacted is what’s really important,” James said.  

This special webinar is part of the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS), which has become one of the top international events on cybersecurity over the past decade. The 2021 conference was postponed due to the pandemic. The next one is scheduled for July 18 to 21, 2022, in-person.

Brennan, a distinguished fellow on global security at the center, acknowledged that Soleimani was a “principal nemesis” of his while he was director of the CIA and that the general represented a threat to U.S. security, but he did not see a legal basis for the strike.

‘We’re Not at War with Iran’

Brennan made a clear distinction between an “unlawful combatant,” such as the leader of a terrorist group, and an individual acting on behalf of a sovereign state, such as a military general. He said that according to the Geneva Convention and “a lot of other important foundations,” a non-state actor is not afforded the same protections as a state actor working on behalf of a sovereign state.

“We’re not at war with Iran,” said Brennan. “We have struck Al-Qaeda terrorists numerous times, but they are unlawful combatants. I see no equivalency, either in …  a domestic or international law, that striking a government official of a foreign country that you’re not in war with has a legal basis.”

Indeed, Brennan cited congressional hearings held in the 1970s that found that the CIA was involved in several “extra-legal” killings. The hearings resulted in an executive order passed by President Gerald Ford in 1976 that banned the assassination of state actors. He added that by the current administration’s rationale, the U.S. could take out the head of the Russian Federal Security Service because that agency is involved in nefarious activities.

“[The killing of Soleimani] certainly is very dissimilar from the strikes against unlawful combatants belonging to Al-Qaeda or any of the other terrorist groups that are in fact named in the authorization for the use of military force that has been in existence since 2001,” he said.

Drone Technology: Advances and Ethical Questions

That Soleimani was killed by a CIA drone, a technology used in a program supported by Brennan, was not lost on the audience, the interviewers, or Brennan himself. Dilanian asked him about the significant advances in the technology that enabled the killing. Brennan said two factors have played a large role in making such stealth and exact attacks possible. One is that today everyone leaves behind “digital dust” from their cell phones, credit cards, and from closed-circuit cameras watching them.

“It is not difficult at all to learn, through legal means, and then through government means, where somebody is,” he said.

Second, he said, is the “increasing refinement and advancements in technology about putting the ordinance on target … within inches.” And if that person moves, as was the case with Soleimani’s caravan at the Baghdad airport where he was killed, a missile can be steered in that direction at the last minute. He added that with machine learning, there is an additional ability to correlate all that information at the speed of light.

“It raises very serious questions about at what point should those actions that result from the machine learning and the ingestion of data require human intervention?” he said.

He said that in the case of the Obama administration, for every decision that was made to strike a terrorist, there was a rigorous review that had to determine that there was no other way to mitigate the threat that that person posed, except by the use of lethal force.

“Before striking that individual, there had to be near-certainty that that was the person, near certainty that there’d be no civilian casualties, there was no possibility of capture, by either U.S. forces or by local forces … in order for it to be an authorized strike,” he said, adding that no such criteria have been clearly articulated by the Trump administration in the Soleimani killing.

Concern About Retaliation

Brennan admitted that the strike was a significant blow to the Iranian high command, but he warned that “the concept of an eye for an eye” is very strong in Iran. Despite a retaliatory strike by the Iranians on a U.S. airbase in Iraq that resulted in more than 60 traumatic brain injuries of U.S. soldiers, there may still be yet another attack to come.

“We know that the Iranians have long memories, we know that they can be patient, and so I believe that there are some in Iran who will want to avenge Soleimani’s death with blood, not with brain injuries,” he said.

Greenberg noted that in attacking Suleimani, the Trump administration used the authorization for use of military force (AMF) from Congress set in 2001 and 2002 for those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and for attacking Iraq, respectively.

“Given that the scenario you’ve just laid out for the decisions that might be in front of the White House coming down the pipe, like this incident, do we need a new AMF, and if so, how would we begin to think about its focus, its limits?” she asked.

Congressional Authorization in the Trump Era

Brennan said that his views have changed on Congressional authorization since the Obama administration, when he thought that their approval constrained the president’s ability to act swiftly, such as in the case of Obama’s effort to close Guantanamo Bay prison.

“I felt that Congress’ intervention was really counterproductive to the ability of the chief executive and the commander in chief to carry out responsible policies,” he said. “Now during the Trump years, I feel as though, ‘My goodness, where’s Congress?’”

Yet, he said, the nation needs to be cautious in “reshaping the architecture of the federal government” in response to an unpredictable Trump presidency.

“He clearly is an anomaly, and he clearly is doing some things that I think would not have been expected of anybody that we thought would make their way to the Oval Office,” he said. “He’s trampling a lot of the foundations of our democratic republic, and I think he’s also demonstrating a real lawlessness. And so that’s the struggle now. What do you do when you have a lawless president? I would put the Soleimani killing in that bucket.”

He said the challenge would be to ensure that the mechanisms of government remain flexible enough to survive into the future, though he remains troubled that the Republicans in Congress have “checked their principles at the door.”

Doing What’s Right

When the conversation turned to impeachment, Brennan said, “I would love to be able to just sit in on a Fordham Law School class on the issue of ethics and defense attorneys,” noting that these topics are front and center in the hearings.

“There’s a cravenness right now in Washington among politicians that just refuse to do what is right. And then you can have very respected attorneys who are well known, some lawyers with big egos, to go up and do anything possible to get somebody off.”

During the question and answer period, David Myers, Ph.D., professor of history, asked if Brennan thought that the unwavering support from Republicans in Congress might stop future “good-minded, good-hearted intelligence servants” from coming forward as whistleblowers in the future.

Brennan said that he certainly hopes that will not be the case.

“I sure as hell hope they speak up. And it can be costly and people are going to come after you. It’s been costly for me. People come after me, but sometimes, maybe it’s my Fordham training or my Irish temper or any number of those things, but I feel that I have no choice but to speak out because what’s happening now is wrong. And if you are a person in the intelligence community and you see things wrong, speak up and speak out because it’s the right thing to do.”

Brennan, who served as C.I.A. director from 2013 to January 2017, participated in an hourlong conversation with Washington Post columnist and best-selling author David Ignatius to mark his Center on National Security fellowship. Earlier in the day, Brennan met with Fordham Law faculty and taught two classes.

Brennan’s fellowship is consistent with Fordham Law’s commitment to training students to engage with national security issues in the intelligence community, law enforcement, and government, and the Law School’s long tradition of public service, Dean Matthew Diller said in his welcoming remarks. Diller praised the Center on National Security, a nonpartisan educational think tank directed by Karen J. Greenberg, as the “centerpiece” of the School’s internationally recognized efforts in the field.

“When we spoke several months ago, Director Brennan explained to me the urgency he feels about educating the next generation—and the public more generally—about the role of the United States as a beacon of democracy and freedom around the world and the challenges we face,” Diller said. He also highlighted Fordham University’s strong contributions to the intelligence community, both in the form of Brennan and William J. Casey, a 1934 Fordham University graduate who served as CIA director under President Ronald Reagan.

Brennan spent 33 years in public service and worked under six presidents—three Republicans and three Democrats—prior to coming to Fordham Law. He observed that the tone coming from the Trump White House is “inconsistent with what this country is all about and the signals we should be sending to the global community.” Further, he declared the justifications Trump offered last week for not certifying the Iran Nuclear Deal were “either willfully ignorant on the issues or willfully misleading.”

Trump’s decisions to reject the previous administration’s agreements—on the Iran Deal and others such as the Paris Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership—have longtime U.S. allies and partners questioning the value of America’s word and lamenting that Trump’s America First policy strategy actually means “America first, second, and third,” Brennan said. Meanwhile, U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia are eyeing new opportunities to step into the leadership void. Trump’s anti-Iran Deal stance also lessens the likelihood North Korea would make a nuclear deal with the Trump administration, or any subsequent administration, because it sees that deal could be ripped up as soon as the new president arrived, Brennan explained.

Brennan also called into question the wisdom of Trump’s use of Twitter to taunt North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, and estimated the likelihood of military conflict between the U.S. and North Korea at between 20 and 25 percent. He cautioned that this did not necessarily mean the situation would turn into a nuclear conflict, and added that he hoped the Trump administration used available back channels to come to a peaceful resolution.

“Thank our lucky stars for Defense Secretary (James) Mattis and (Secretary of State) John Kelly and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford,” Brennan said, calling them “governors on the instincts and impulsivity of the president.”

Earlier this year, Brennan criticized Trump for denigrating the intelligence community and questioning its integrity in the wake of public reports that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election. Brennan reiterated on Wednesday that the C.I.A. knew in the summer of 2016 that the highest levels of Russian government, under the direction of President Vladimir Putin, had launched a campaign aimed to undermine the election with the goal of enhancing Trump’s prospects.

Brennan recalled an August 4 conversation with Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Bureau, in which he warned his counterpart that interfering with the election would backfire and be met with outrage from the American people. In hindsight, Brennan reflected that this was a bad analysis on his part because it seems like many people aren’t concerned about election tampering.

Whether American citizens realize it or not, cybersecurity remains a substantial threat from state and non-state actors, Brennan said. As C.I.A. director, Brennan called for the United States to establish a major independent commission to answer how the nation intends to protect itself from cyber threats and to debate how best to balance security threats with civil liberties. He envisioned this commission to be the cybersecurity equivalent of the Manhattan Project.

“I am hoping we’re not going to wait for a 9/11 equivalent in cyber to take the steps that are necessary,” Brennan said.

In his role with Fordham Law, Brennan will contribute his expertise and insights as a leading practitioner in national security to the Center on National Security’s mission of bringing to public attention issues of national security, foreign policy, governance, and the rule of law. He will participate in conferences, workshops, and other events hosted by the center.

He also plans to serve as a mentor to students who wish to know more about government service and professional opportunities in the field of national security.

“For the way the center has evolved over the past years, always trying to open up a conversation for the people who are most thoughtful, most in front on these issues, most responsible for what happens in Washington and around the world, and most generous with who they are as human beings, he makes perfect sense here,” Greenberg said during her introductory remarks.

—Ray Legendre

The University has raised $75.9 million in funds—7 percent more than the previous record set eight years ago, and $30 million more than the amount raised in 2016.

“We are deeply grateful to the members of the Fordham family who have given, and given so generously,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Their support—financial and otherwise—speaks to the importance of Fordham’s sacred mission, and to the enduring value of a Fordham education. Though we can number the gifts, their impact on a new generation of Fordham students is beyond price.”

Making a Fordham Education Accessible

Among the major gifts that helped to drive the University fundraising achievement was a $10.5 million gift to support science education from the estate of the late Stephen (Steve) Bepler, FCRH ’64, and a $20 million gift to the University from Maurice J. (Mo) Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe, Ph.D., GSAS ’71. The Cunniffes made the second-largest gift in Fordham’s history when they established the Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe Presidential Scholars Program to support the studies of high-performing students.

“Our generous donors are people who are passionate about Fordham and are motivated to invest in our mission,” said Roger A. Milici Jr., vice president of development and university relations. “These gifts are meant to ensure that a Fordham education is within reach for first generation students and students of all economic backgrounds.”

As the University has prioritized making a Fordham education accessible for students of every class, race, and faith, it is grateful that $48 million of the $75.9 million raised in FY 2017 was allocated by donors to support financial aid. This brings the Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid, which was announced during Fordham’s 175th anniversary, to $107 million.

Milici said the University has made fundraising strides across the board that have contributed to its unprecedented fundraising year.

“We have an increasingly talented and driven advancement team—staff and volunteers—working together to create these types of successes,” he said.

Law and Cybersecurity

Among the University wide successes was the Fordham Law School’s fundraising, which topped its FY 2017 goal of $12.5 million, driving its Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid total to $21.4 million. Fordham’s Center on National Security also received a $1.7 million gift from Trustee Fellow Vincent J. Viola and the Viola Family Foundation. That gift will support the work of the center’s director, Karen J. Greenberg, Ph.D., and other research staff, as well as the Terrorism Trials Database, a data and analysis project focused on terrorism prosecutions.

This important gift comes as Fordham was recently designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

Another fundraising advance included the Fordham Fund, which raised $5.1 million and set a new record for unrestricted and school annual funds. What’s more, the 16th Annual Fordham Founder’s Award Dinner, raised $2.4 million—the second largest amount in the dinner’s history.

Support for Capital Projects

With the added emphasis of raising funds to support two important capital projects that will give the University a competitive edge in student-athlete recruitment and improve the Rose Hill Gym fan experience—namely the McLaughlin Family Basketball Court at the Rose Hill campus, and the new football office projects—athletic fundraising had a 42 percent increase from FY 2016.

Fordham parents also played an integral part in helping the University reach its fundraising goals. Parent giving more than doubled, going from $1 million from 2,348 parents the last fiscal year to $2.7 million from 2,699 parents this year.

The spirit of giving was further exemplified in Fordham’s inaugural Giving Day, where the University exceeded its goal of 1,750 donors in 24 hours with gifts from 2,101 donors from across the United States and around the world.

“Fundamentally, Fordham alumni appreciate the rigorous Jesuit education and overall experience they had on campus, and if given the opportunity (and we do a good job of earning their trust), I believe alumni will invest in that promise so that others can have similar experiences and follow in that long maroon line,” said Milici.

On Nov. 14, President Obama admitted that closing Guantanamo before he leaves office is becoming a dimmer prospect with each passing week. Between congressional restrictions, and the “nature of the evidence” against those being held, Obama said that while numbers of detainees may still dwindle before Donald Trump takes office, a complete phase-out faces significant roadblocks.

Fordham Law’s Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security and author of Rogue Ju­­­­stice: The Making of the Security State, believes the United States is unable to bring those accused to court because the trials would draw attention to the country’s ethical choice of torturing its prisoners. Greenberg said that if the trial against tortured Muslim expatriate John Walker Lindh had been brought to court in February of 2002, things may have been different.

-Mary Awad

While the cause of ISIS continues to attract a wide range of individuals, trends can be observed in terms of motivations, personal context, and intent. Among the report’s findings are the following:

• 80% expressed dissatisfaction with the United States in some respect
• 90% were drawn to the caliphate
• 42% were charged with plotting against American targets
• 50% were involved in discussing, procuring, or possessing firearms
• 26% expressed a desire for martyrdom
• 87% of the charged individuals are male
• 77% are U.S. citizens
• 89% use social media
• One-third lived with their parents at the time of arrest

Center on National Security Director Karen Greenberg was quoted in a New York Times article that featured the report.

“These individuals seemed to be looking to attach to something that can help define them as well as give them a cause worth fighting for,” said Karen J. Greenberg, the director of the center.

Read the full article.

Read the report (PDF).

Anyone who thinks the United States has settled the security versus liberty debate in the War on Terror should turn his or her gaze to a U.S.-run prison on the south shore of Cuba, said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law.

“There are five people in Guantanamo who are charged with the 9/11 attacks, and we’ve never tried them in court. We have not figured out a way to try them, because we did not focus on justice—we focused instead on security,” she said.

“We have a situation where our country was tragically and devastatingly attacked [and]we think we know who did it—we have the perpetrators in custody. [But] we can’t do anything about it, because we allowed a weakening of our court system after 9/11.”

This failure of military commissions to adjudicate prisoners at the Guantanamo prison, coupled with the refusal of Congress to allow them to be tried in civilian courts, is one issue Greenberg explores in Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State (Crown 2016), released on May 24.

The book details ways in which previously unthinkable “rogue policies,” like the NSA’s spying on U.S. citizens, indefinite detention, and torture, were embraced and implemented in secret. And it’s not just freedom that Americans have given away to feel safer; it’s justice, too.

“The people who created this country and who wrote the Bill of Rights knew what they were talking about,” she said. “Compromising those protections—for whatever reason—is a threshold we shouldn’t have crossed. It’s a mistake that’s hard to recover from.”

There are some areas of national security where Greenberg is hopeful. The ineffectiveness of torture has been documented in a recent Senate report, and there has been significant pushback against mass surveillance by tech companies.

But she is still concerned about the issue of indefinite detention, particularly as the country’s armed forces engage with ISIS and the Obama administration prepares to leave office.

“Guantanamo has taken us down so many bad roads in terms of our relations with other countries and our reliance upon our own legal system—it’s just been an intractable problem in so many ways. It’s something that former President Bush wanted to close, its something Obama has wanted to close,” she said.

“Keeping it open at this point would prove dangerous, given we’re entering a new phase of the war on terror.”
She said that when Americans allow fear to drive the nation to ignore its laws, Americans actually endanger themselves more.

“We talk about the injustice to the detainees, to those who were tortured, to those who were rounded up in the war of terror, but the injustice of not trying people for 9/11 is an injustice to the American people,” she said.

Greenberg will discuss Rogue Justice at Fordham Law School on Wednesday, June 1 from 6 to 7 p.m. For more information, visit the center’s event page.

Guns in America

The shooting in San Bernardino will not change the larger dynamic at work in the contentious debate over the role of guns in American society. The gun rights position and the gun violence reduction policy agenda are each a product of a complex amalgam of  interests and ideologies.  Each must work in the increasingly dysfunctional world of American politics,  a reality in which the wealthier, more entrenched interest tends to win: in this case guns. We are unlikely to see major changes at the national level and will continue to see the nation drift in opposite directions at the state level—“Red America” will likely continue to expand the right to carry in public and “Blue America” will pass some more regulations consistent with the way the courts have construed the meaning of the right to bear arms in recent years.

– Saul Cornell, PhD, Paul and Diane Gunther Chair in History and author, A Well-Regulated Militia: the Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America.

Fantasy Sports Shutdown

After a period of spectacular growth in an unregulated market, both FanDuel and DraftKings will have a rocky 2016. The New York State Office of the Attorney General will likely prevail in its quest to shut down these sites in New York (which had the largest number of players of any state), but only after months of litigation and appeals. However, it is likely these daily fantasy sports sites will continue to operate in other states, although in a more regulated fashion. The ultimate solution would be to legalize sports betting in some fashion, which would eliminate the need to debate whether daily fantasy sports constitutes gambling or not. I don’t see that happening next year, but [perhaps]in the next five years.

– Mark Conrad, Area Chair and Associate Professor of Law and Ethics, Gabelli School of Business and director of its sports business concentration

Prison Reform

This coming year, New York State and the federal government will be challenged with following suit on their commitment to prison reform and improving community reintegration for incarcerated people of all ages. Ending solitary confinement, a form of inhumane punishment, will continue to gain state and national support. The shift from punishment to rehabilitation will open the door for trauma-informed care, [and]concerted efforts of local and national advocacy groups will increase public awareness of the consequences of mass incarceration, resulting in an increase of public support for humanistic prison reform and more community reintegration. In our own backyard, Fordham’s Be the Evidence project is collaborating with the New York State Department of Corrections to establish a statewide initiative for a discharge planning unit for the most vulnerable of prison populations—the aging and seriously ill. Perhaps most importantly, Sesame Street will continue to enlighten people about the experiences of young children who have an incarcerated parent. It may be the puppets (as opposed to the politicians) that will release us from the invisible prisons that separate each of us from one another’s common humanity.

– Tina Maschi, PhD, associate professor at the Graduate School of Social Service and president of Be the Evidence International

Escalating Humanitarian Crises

In 2005, Madame Sadako Ogata, then the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said of the Balkan crisis, “There are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems,” stating that only political action can bring about real change. That statement is still true 10 years later. In 2016, due to political inaction, the current Middle East migration crises will worsen, and increased human displacement and suffering will continue. Perhaps, even worse, the humanitarian community will continue to lack critical and needed financial support and qualified personnel. Other countries in the region, especially Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon, will therefore see an increase in unrest, adding to the overall migration numbers.

– Brendan Cahill, executive director of Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs

Reproductive Ethics

Uterus transplant clinical trials are currently—and will continue to be—a major news story in 2016. At this stage, a study in Sweden involving nine women who received uteruses from living donors resulted in five pregnancies and four live births in 2015. Two other clinical trials are set to begin next year: one in the United Kingdom, and one at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States.  A significant ethical issue with the Swedish trial was the fact that the living donors had to undergo major surgery with potential complications for something that had no direct physical benefit for them. But the new trials will differ from the one that took place in Sweden, because each uterus will come from a deceased donor, eliminating potential harm to a living donor. However, many questions remain unanswered, including whether uteruses transplanted from deceased donors will result in pregnancies, and whether women will view posthumous [womb]donation differently than donating other organs currently used in transplants, such as kidneys and hearts, because of its unique role as the organ responsible for gestation.

– Elizabeth Yuko, PhD, bioethicist at Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education

Rate Increase Ripple Effects

When the Fed set its monetary policy in December 2015, they were making policy [strictly]on the basis of the U.S. economy, but at the same time it affects the entire world. The new interest rate hike clearly appreciates the dollar, and the real question for the emerging market countries is, if something looks risky to an investor in another country, why keep your money there when you can get guaranteed dollar-denominated deposits? Even at .25 percent, when multiplied by hundreds of billions of dollars, that is real money. So investment is flowing back to the United States. Given that people will be less willing to invest in emerging markets—China, Brazil, Argentina, and the Middle East—their currencies will depreciate. If there are slowdowns in some of these nations, their domestic debt crises could compound quickly.

– Paul McNelis, SJ, Robert Bendheim Professor of Economic & Financial Policy, Finance and Business Economics, Gabelli School of Business

Climate Change and the Marginalized

The coming year looks hopeful for the environment. The agreement reached at COP21 finally replaces the question of climate change with a dialogue about combatting it. While international agreements do not solve local problems, they can create a more supportive climate for local communities trying to address them. In Paris, I saw attention shifting to the role of indigenous peoples and a renewed appreciation for the traditional knowledge of local communities. These inevitably slow-but-vital shifts in global perspective bring to light the marginalized person whom development efforts should ultimately target. These people offer us ideas on how to achieve economic growth without harming the environment. Scaling their daily work to reach the goals set by world leaders is key to sustainable development.

– Elizabeth Shaw, graduate student in Fordham’s International Political Economy and Development program, and attendee at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21)

2016 Presidential Election

Elections are ultimately determined, in part, by which voters show up. The 2016 election’s likely turnout of 60 percent, while lower than many would like, will exceed the turnout in 2014 by about 20 percentage points. Higher turnout generally favors Democrats, because many voters who abstain in midterms and other low-salience elections are young or new voters and minorities. Still, many things are up in the air: For example, if Donald Trump fails to get the GOP nomination, do his supporters sit out the election or does he mount a third-party candidacy that appeals to them? Turnout—along with outcomes generally—is also driven by fundamentals like perceptions of economic performance and the incumbent party. Seeking your party’s third term in the White House seems to carry a general-election penalty of 4 or 5 percentage points, so the Democratic nominee will have to work hard to mitigate that effect.

— Costas Panagopoulos, PhD, professor of political science and director of Fordham’s Elections and Campaign Management program

ISIS

ISIS has defined itself as “ISIS against the world.” That offers the US and other nations a unifying focal point. I think the strategy we have now will continue to grow, which is to engage with more Muslim heads of state and  leaders from various countries to mount a united front. It’ll be interesting to see how Iran fits into that conversation and what happens with the U.S./Saudi alliance, but I don’t think it will change U.S./Russian relations very much. Domestically, ISIS has provided a unifying focal point as well. It’s been very reassuring to see strong pushback against Trump’s anti-Muslim comments. Individuals from across the political spectrum have declared that his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country violates the most fundamental constitutional guarantees.

– Karen Greenberg, PhD, is the director of the Center on National Security