Mission Statement

Director's Statement

"The Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP) has three main goals: to research topics related to terrorism studies and extremist movements; to educate students about the history and trends of these groups; and to generate policy recommendations that can guide professionals in counterterrorism and related fields. Our vision is to be an academic and professional resource to Monterey Institute students, those professionals concerned with terrorism related issues, and the wider international security community."

Brigadier General (ret.) Russell D. Howard, Director of MonTREP, is a retired Special Forces officer with thirty-seven years of military service, more than twenty of which were spent in some type of counter-terrorist capacity.  He was also the founding Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, now recognized as a Congressional Center of Excellence.  

His goals for MonTREP are: to advance MonTREP’s core competencies in the study of extremism and extremist groups; to emphasize terrorism prediction and prevention as part of a comprehensive counterterrorism education and research program; and to replicate, on the West Coast and at a graduate-level, the CTC’s terrorism studies intellectual energy and acumen.