Johns Hopkins senior Jonathon Snow was one of 26 undergraduate students selected as a participant in the new Anti-Terrorism Fellowship Program offered by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD).
The Foundation was formed two days after the September 11th attacks in order to study global terrorism in all its forms. Additionally, the FDD works to disseminate this information to encourage debate and involvement in the formation and implementation of policies to fight terrorism here and abroad.
"The point of the fellowship is we're ambassadors to explain the threat terrorism poses," said Snow.
The program lasts for one year, and it began in August with a 17-day trip to Israel, where the fellowship recipients attended lectures and presentations from foreign ambassadors, political officials and academic experts on current anti-terrorism measures, factors that can lead to terrorist activities and plans for eradicating terrorism in the future.
Snow, who is majoring in international relations with a focus on the Middle East, was thrilled at the idea of participating in the very first fellowship "at the forefront of this burgeoning field." He emphasized that while the September 11th attacks and the murders at an Israeli campus that occurred just before his arrival served as good case studies for the program, the focus was, and should be, terrorism all over the world.
"Americans have begun to realize... that we, and the entire world, are at great risk, and I hope to help the members of my community further grasp how immediate and dangerous this threat is to our way of life," he said.
He said has been studying the Middle East for years, and his interest in Sept. 11 arose from his studies.
