Jarret Brachman, associate research fellow with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, delivered a keynote address at an international counterterrorism conference in Ireland in September. The conference, "Terrorism and New Media," was sponsored by Dublin City University and designed to generate debate and analysis of "hot" topics in the realm of terrorism and the Internet, particularly the question of the role of the Internet in processes of radicalisation. Brachman's address, "Watching Them Watch Us Watching Them," detailed the complex interplay of al-Qaeda, media operatives and American counterterrorism analysts.

According to Brachman, al-Qaeda has grown savvier since 9/11 at learning how to turn America's strengths back against it. The group has built a globally dispersed, Internet-based army of supporters who collect news reports, official government documents and television documentaries featuring former government officials or military officers and then use them to make America look foolish. Brachman has been exploring this line of research in a series of publications, including a piece in Newsweek entitled, "Fight Fire with Funny," and an article in Foreign Policy entitled, "My Jihadist PenPal." In addition to his work on counterterrorism, Brachman works on transportation safety and security.