Associate Vice President
Director, Homeland Security Policy Institute
The George Washington University
Email: cilluffo@gwu.edu
An Associate Vice President at The George Washington University, Frank J. Cilluffo leads GW's homeland security efforts on policy, research, education, and training. He directs the multi-disciplinary Homeland Security Policy Institute, a nonpartisan “think and do tank” that builds bridges between theory and practice to advance homeland security through a multi and interdisciplinary approach.
The Institute’s recent policy and research agenda covers a wide range of national and homeland security matters, including counterterrorism, counter-radicalization & counter-narrative efforts, cyber threats & deterrence, transportation security, CBRN terrorism, intelligence, national resilience, emergency management, and the nexus of crime and terrorism. Cilluffo chairs HSPI's Ambassadors Roundtable Series on International Collaboration to Combat Terrorism and Insurgencies, moderates the Institute's Policy & Research Forums--which spotlight cutting-edge policy solutions and innovative research--and facilitates a variety of other programmatic events. Through the Ambassadors Roundtable Series, HSPI has engaged over thirty ambassadors and cabinet level officials in an ongoing dialogue on the counterterrorism efforts of multiple nations.
Cilluffo joined GW in April 2003 from the White House where he served as Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. Shortly following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Cilluffo was appointed by the President to the newly created Office of Homeland Security, and served as a principal advisor to Governor Tom Ridge.
Prior to his White House appointment, Cilluffo spent eight years in senior policy positions with the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank. At CSIS he chaired or directed numerous committees and task forces on homeland defense, counterterrorism, transnational crime, and information warfare and information assurance.
In addition to publishing extensively in academic, law, business, and policy journals, and magazines and newspapers worldwide, Cilluffo is co-author and editor of the following selected publications:
• The Iranian Cyber Threat to the United States (2012)
• Is America's View of Iran and Hezbollah Dangerously Out of Date? (2012)
• Open Relationship (2012)
• Mexico and the Triple Threat (2011)
• AQAP Loses its Chief of External Operations: Counterterrorism Implications (2011)
• Time for Pakistan to Clean Up its Backyard (2011)
• U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation: Deepening the Partnership (2011)
• U.S. Must Work With India (2011)
• Counterterrorism Intelligence: Law Enforcement Perspectives (2011)
• Defense Cyber Strategy Avoids Tackling the Most Critical Issues (2011)
• Countering the Threat Posed by AQAP: Embrace, Don't Chase Yemen's Chaos (2011)
• Yemen & Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Exploiting a Window of Counterterrorism Opportunity (2011)
• Have we forgotten that loose lips sink ships? (2011)
• After bin Laden the Threat Remains – Drones, CIA and SOF Still the Only Game in Town (2011)
• Tumult in the Middle East: When and Where Will the Next Shoe Drop? (2011)
• What's the Big Idea? Confronting the Ideology of Islamist Extremism (2011)
• Managing Complexity in a WikiLeaks World (2010)
• Balboni and Cilluffo: Secrecy's role in security (2010)
• Eurovision? Let's Hope It's Farsighted (2010)
• Foreign Fighters: Trends, Trajectories & Conflict Zones (2010)
• Cloud Computing Risks and National Security: Keeping Pace With Expanding Technology (2010)
• Baghdad Surprise? (2010)
• Hammami the Jihadist Pop Star--Bridging Worlds: From Mobile to Mogadishu (2010)
• All Hands - and Eyes - Needed on Deck (2010)
• Stopping Terror In and On Its Tracks (2010)
• Disaster Diplomacy (2010)
• Cons Gone Wild? (2010)
• No Longer on Auto-Pilot: Aviation Security and Intelligence Reform (2010)
• Reflections on Jihad: A Former Leader's Perspective, An In-depth Conversation with Noman Benotman (2009)
• Storm Surge (2009)
• A Stronger, More Resilient Future (2009)
• Reckless Neglect: A Disaster Waiting to Happen...Again? (2009)
• To Beat Terrorists, Use Judo, Not Boxing (2009)
• The H1N1 Influenza A Virus: A Test Case for a Global Response (2009)
• How To Beat al Qaeda at Its Own Game (2009)
• Canada and the United States: Time for a Joint Threat Assessment (2009)
• The Homeland Security Council: Considerations for the Future (2009)
• Micro-Diplomacy in Afghanistan: Disaggregating and Engaging the Taliban (2009)
• Serving America's Disaster Victims: FEMA, Where Does it Fit? (2009)
• How Can the U.S. Improve Human intelligence? (2008)
• Radicalization: Behind Bars and Beyond Borders (2007)
• NETworked Radicalization: A Counter-Strategy (2007)
• Stopping Surprise Attacks: Thinking Smarter About Homeland Security (2007)
• Report of the Future of Terrorism Task Force (2007)
• Out of the Shadows: Getting Ahead of Prisoner Radicalization (2006)
• Cyberstrategy 2.0 (2006)
• Regionalizing Homeland Security: Unifying National Preparedness and Response (2006)
• Empowering America: A Proposal for Enhancing Regional Preparedness (2006)
• Terrorism Risk Insurance: Assessing TRIA and the Way Forward (2005)
• Back to The Future: An Agenda for Federal Leadership of Emergency Medical Services (2005)
• Public Preparedness: A National Imperative (2005)
• Commission’s Proposals Fall on Deaf Ears (2004)
• Consolidating the House’s Homeland Security Efforts: The Time to Act is Now (2004)
• The Use and Limits of U.S. Intelligence (2002)
• Combating Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Terrorism: A Comprehensive Strategy (2001)
• Cyber Threats and Information Security: Meeting the 21st Century Challenge (2001)
• Fighting Terrorism (2001)
• Russian Organized Crime & Corruption: Putin’s Challenge (2000)
• Cyber-Attack: The National Protection Plan and Its Privacy Implications (2000)
• Cyber Threats: Ten Issues to Consider (2000)
• And the Winner is...The Albanian Mafia (1999)
• Responding to New Terrorist Threats (1998)
• Cybercrime, Cyberterrorism, Cyberwarfare (1998)
• Information Warfare and Strategic Terrorism (1997)
• Between War and Peace: Deterrence and Leverage (1997)
• Russian Organized Crime (1997)
• Global Organized Crime: The New Empire of Evil (1994)
He has testified before the United States Congress on a number of occasions, has been a regular guest on major television and radio networks worldwide, and lectures extensively to governmental and academic audiences domestically and internationally. Cilluffo presently serves and has served on various national security-related committees sponsored by the U.S. government and non-profit organizations, including the Homeland Security Advisory Council, where he served as the Vice Chairman of the Future of Terrorism Task Force, chaired by Congressman Lee Hamilton. Cilluffo also served as a member of the Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee, and most recently chaired the Quadrennial Homeland Secrity Review Advisory Council.
Cilluffo served as a Fellow at the World Economic Forum, and was a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He continues to remain active in the non-profit and think tank communities, currently serving as a member of the Center for the Study of the Presidency’s National Council of Advisors, a member of the University of Virginia’s Critical Incident Analysis Group Steering Committee, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Infrastructure and Information Assurance at James Madison University, a “coach” with the Partnership for Public Service’s Annenberg Leadership Institute, and co-chairs the CSIS Lessons Learned from Abroad study.
