For time immemorial, various groups have been taking hostages, political prisoners, and illegally detaining people with impunity. This tried-and-true method of gaining leverage over a rival state or group continues today, despite the fact that is runs contrary to established international law. As of this posting 42 Americans are being illegally detained by foreign governments and the United States, after a long practice of not negotiating, is finally getting serious about bringing its citizens home. As this delicate dance continues to play out on the international stage, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation continues to lead the way on responses to these illegal and immoral actions taken by foreign governments, rebel groups, and terrorist organizations.

In this month's episode, we speak with Diane Foley, mother of slain journalist James Foley, about the work of their family's foundation to help ensure no other family has to endure the pain they did back in 2012 when ISIS killed their son. We dive into what the research tells us about different responses, what is effective, what needs to change, and how we all can work to keep ourselves safe while traveling abroad. This important conversation provides audiences with key information and hope for the future. The more international attention we can bring to this practice, the more we can pressure governments to sign on to the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations, a global initiative started by Canada in 2021, the less likely it is that people will continue to be used as political pawns, simply because of their nationality.

2024 Foley Foundation Hostage Report

10th Annual James W. Foley Freedom Run

Diane M. Foley is President and Founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which she created in September 2014 less than a month after the public beheading by ISIS in Syria of her son James W. Foley, an American freelance conflict journalist.

In 2015, she led JWFLF efforts to fund the start of Hostage US and the International Alliance for a Culture of Safety, ACOS. She actively participated in the National Counterterrorism Center hostage review which culminated in the Presidential Policy Directive-30, which created the current US hostage enterprise to free innocent Americans taken hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. JWFLF was instrumental in the passage of the Robert Levinson Hostage Taking and Accountability Act.

She has been a tireless hostage, wrongful detainee and family advocate within the US hostage enterprise, Congress, and every presidential administration since 2014. She has raised awareness of international hostage-taking and wrongful detention using the award-winning documentary, “Jim, the James Foley story”, opinion pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today and media interviews.

She co-authored the book “American Mother” which was published in 2024 with writer Colum McCann. Diane is also the author of a chapter called, “Life For A Voice: the Work of Journalist James W. Foley through the Eyes of his Family” in Living with Precariousness, edited by Christina Lee and Susan Leong, which was published in 2023.

Over the course of the past 170 years, the world has experienced many different forms of terrorism designed to create fear, push for political aims, and recruit followers. Groups of varying political ideologies have used terrorism over the years, making this an issue that never really goes away, it simply morphs and changes. However, one thing remains the same... all of these groups eventually come to an end. It may surprise you that the average lifespan of a terrorist group is 8-10 years, which can seem unbelievable with the staying power of groups like al-Qaeda (founded in the 1980s), the "Provisionals" of the IRA (who used Terrorist attacks in Ireland for over 20 years), and the New People's Army (which has utilized terrorist tactics in the Philippines since 1969). These are the outliers rather than the norm.

This episode takes a look at amazing research conducted by Dr. Audrey Kurth Cronin, Director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology, who has collated the ways in which terrorist groups come to an end. Spoiler alert, sometimes these groups morph into something worse, so it is important to understand why terrorist groups exist, what their goals are, and how the global community can work to hasten these groups' turn away from targeting civilians. Take a listen to engage in this global conversation on understanding how terrorism ends.

Purchase Dr. Kurth Cronin's book How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns and her second book Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow’s Terrorists to dive even deeper into the topic.

Audrey Kurth Cronin is Trustees Professor of Security and Technology and Director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology (CMIST). Cronin’s best-known book is How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns (Princeton, 2009), which the New Yorker called a “landmark study.” Her latest book, Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow’s Terrorists (Oxford, 2020), analyzes emerging technologies and devises a new framework for analyzing 21st century military innovation. It was short-listed for the Lionel Gelber prize and won the 2020 Neave prize.

Cronin was a Marshall Scholar from Princeton, earned a DPhil from Oxford, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. Formerly Distinguished Professor at American University, she founded and directed the Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology in Washington, DC. She also gained accreditation, founded, and ran the International Security graduate program at George Mason University. She has been director of the core course on War and Statecraft at the National War College, Director of Studies for the Changing Character of War program at Oxford University, and Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service. She has also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and frequently advises at senior levels. She was Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Terrorism and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

It has long been said that the United States has benefited from its geography, when it comes to national security. This is attributed to vast oceans to the east and west, along with friendly neighbors to the north and south. The same can be said for Canada, with Santa being a pretty friendly neighbor to the north, one would assume. Do to this shared advantage, which might be less true today, Canada and the United States have long worked together to secure "Fortress North America". From the defensive structures of NORAD and NATO, to the continued force projection taking on some of the biggest challenges of the day, these two countries have collaborated in a number of military spaces.

While it would take too long to dive into all the shared challenges that these countries face on the global stage, we did take a special opportunity to speak with the Canadian Defense Attaché to the United States about several of the biggest issues of the day. Major General Michel-Henri St-Louis of the Canadian Armed Forces graciously gave his time to talk about NATO, NORAD, Ukraine, and the current state of Canada's military and integration with American forces. With a thirty-plus year military career, the Major General has held many high level commands across multiple theatres, as he has helped to ensure Canada upholds its international security obligations.

This episode tackles important questions, from what challenges do the armed forces face in terms of readiness, what support has the Canadian government provided to Ukraine, and how our adversaries actively work to undermine important foreign policy conversations here in the US and Canada. This fascinating and unique conversation provides access to top level military thinking, accessible for all.

Major-General Michel-Henri St-Louis is an infantry officer from le Royal 22e Régiment, currently serving as the Defence Attaché to the United States. Born in Managua, Nicaragua, he and his family moved to the south shore of Montreal in 1978 during the time of the Sandinista Revolution. Before assuming his current responsibilities at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, MGen St-Louis was the Acting Commander of the Canadian Army. This followed his appointment as the Canadian Army’s Training Authority. Preceding this, he served as the Commander of Joint Task Force - IMPACT in the Middle East for more than a year (mid 2019 – mid 2020). Other previous commands and appointments include Deputy Commanding General for Operations of America’s First Corps (I Corps - US Army) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (2017-2019), command of 5e Groupe-Brigade Mécanisé du Canada (2015-2017), as well as commander of the last Canadian Battle-Group in charge of combat operations in Panjwai, Kandahar (2010-2011).

Through his service he and his family have lived in Saint-Jean, Québec City, Oromocto, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Washington, D.C., Washington State and Kingston (Ontario). He has deployed on 6 different missions, to such places as Srebrenica (Bosnia), Rastevic (Croatia), Zgon (Bosnia), Kabul, Kandahar (Afghanistan) and the OP IMPACT Middle East area or operations (Kuwait-Iraq-Jordan-Lebanon).

He has attended the US PINNACLE and CAPSTONE Leadership Programs, followed seminars at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NDU) and the US Army War College. He is a graduate of the National War College (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), the Canadian Forces College, le Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean, the Royal Military College in Kingston, and the Canadian Army Command and Staff College. His three Masters degrees have focused on the study of war, defence and strategy. He served as chief of staff at the operational level in the 1st Canadian Air Division. In addition, he served three times at the strategic level with the Director General of Strategic Planning, within the Canadian Army Staff and with the Strategic Joint Staff.