“A leader in countering violent extremism, Farah Pandith’s voice is needed now more than ever. Her book How We Win is filled with inspiring stories and proactive solutions on how to defeat extremist ideologies. It is essential reading for all of us.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton
“One of the most critical tools in the fight to keep our country and world safe is the effort to combat the ideology that underlies extremist activity. Farah Pandith offers a comprehensive look at the war of ideas and provides concrete solutions to this vexing problem. Her book is essential for anyone who cares about security and the resilience of democratic values.”
—Leon E. Panetta, former United States Secretary of Defense and former CIA Director
“Drawing on her decades of experience, Pandith unweaves the tangled web of extremism and demonstrates how government officials, tech CEOs, and concerned citizens alike can do their part to defeat it.”
—Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
“Farah is a well-respected expert with extensive government experience in this field. Her insights and first-hand perspective offer a unique vantage point on the cultural, ideological, and political forces that effect Muslim youth worldwide. Her book is much more than a provocative analysis of why we have yet to defeat the appeal of extremist ideology that is the backbone of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS. How We Win shows us exactly what we need to do, and can do, to turn the tide.”
—The Honorable Stephen J. Hadley, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (2005-2009) and Board Chair at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
“As the former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US forces in Afghanistan, and later as President Obama’s Special Envoy to the Counter ISIL Coalition, I know how crucial it is that we win the war of ideas … ideological war. No one knows more about appeal of the ideology on Muslim youth than Farah Pandith. She’s served multiple presidents—Democrat and Republican—traveled to almost 100 countries, consulted the highest ranks of the military and our diplomats, in her search to reverse the catastrophic course we seem to be following. I wish I’d had How We Win as a resource during my critical leadership efforts against Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic State.”
—General John R. Allen, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), former Commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan (2011-2013) and Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State
“Farah Pandith draws on her wide-ranging experience as a diplomat and communicator to lay out a comprehensive strategy against violent extremism. A timely book for government and civil society leaders.”
—Michael Chertoff, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the Chertoff Group
“How We Win offers sharp, incisive wisdom from someone who had a front-row seat for one of modern history’s great inflection points. An expert and an experienced practitioner, Pandith brilliantly captures how to think differently about extremism, and how to draw on the wisdom of great leaders to confront the extremist threat. How We Win should be required reading for anyone interested in harnessing new ideas to tackle some of the world’s toughest international security challenges.”
—Jared Cohen, Founder and CEO of Jigsaw
“The private sector has a vital role to play in stopping violent extremism. Farah Pandith’s revelatory How We Win is the playbook we’ve been waiting for. Read it and join in. Farah has much to tell us. The world will benefit from her insights.”
—Shelly Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather
“When the threat of terrorism triggers our instincts to lock ourselves down or shout each other down, Ms. Pandith tells us to suit up and open up. Having survived from the frontlines of bureaucratic infighting, she optimistically calls us to be outgoing.”
—Matthew Barzun, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden and former Chief Strategy Officer at CNET Networks
“Farah has written a vitally important book on an incredibly important topic that for too long has received short shrift. Every policy maker involved in national security and foreign affairs needs to focus on how we still face a generational ideological challenge.”
—Michael Leiter, former Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (2007-2011)
“How We Win is surely the best book about how the US government and others need to think about how best to counter violent extremism and also how to act to curb the spread of extremist ideologies. It is also a lively and well written memoir of Farah Pandith’s many years working for the State Department combating extremism around the world.”
—Peter Bergen, author of United States of Jihad: Who Are America’s Homegrown Terrorists, and How Do We Stop Them?
“Farah Pandith offers a much needed critique of nearly two decades of failed American efforts to counter violent extremist ideology. More importantly, she charts a thoughtful alternative course that demands the attention of policymakers and practitioners in the United States and around the world.”
—Ambassador William J. Burns, President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Deputy Secretary of State
“As former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, I was on the frontlines of the war against violent extremists, searching for strategies to thwart deadly attacks by eradicating recruitment of future terrorists and increasing the power of those who could be our best allies in the fight. How We Win is a much-needed corrective to those who argue primarily for military “hard power” solutions. Farah Pandith is a big thinker with a compelling global vision on what is truly a global problem. A smart, powerful thinker who discerns the hidden links underlying the phenomenon of extremism, she is uniquely qualified to write How We Win. I wish I’d had Farah Pandith’s groundbreaking book then, and hope that everyone concerned with stopping extremist violence and destruction will read it now.”
—Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
“For decades, policymakers, academics and community leaders have struggled with the question: how do people of good faith stop extremism in their midst? Pandith doesn’t just ask the question but provides — for the first time — a concrete, detailed, and engaging answer: the solution lies with all of us. From the private sector to family members, Pandith tells us how to mobilize for action. She engages us rather than terrifies us. With sympathy and also hard-nosed realism, Pandith’s How We Win is ultimately inspiring. If this is a war of ideas, Pandith is now our intellectual General.”
—Juliette Kayyem, former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and Faculty Chair of the Homeland Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government
“I witnessed Farah Pandith innovate and shape the U.S. government and private sector’s approach since 9/11 to confront the generational and global problem of violent extremism in its most virulent forms, while helping define a new form of power and diplomacy. Her travel to every corner of the world as America’s first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities to understand and affect the manifestations of this ideological threat became a groundbreaking part of America’s counter-terrorism work and is richly described in this book with revealing glimpses of how the world has viewed the United States after 9/11 and how we tried to wage the “battle of ideas.” There is no more important voice on how we should recognize and confront these morphing ideological threats; how to enlist social, corporate, and economic power including Millennials and new technologies to confront the underpinnings of terror globally; and ultimately how we win through the power of our ideas. For anyone who wants to understand how the field of countering violent extremism was born and what we must do in the face of continued threats, this is your book and Pandith is your guide.”
– Juan Zarate, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism for President George W. Bush and Chairman, Financial Integrity Network.
“In the all-out effort to defeat Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, we have struggled to win the war of ideas. Pandith, who has served on the front lines of this ideological conflict, is uniquely qualified to confront the enduring system that gives rise to the extremist threat. In this indispensable book, Pandith sets forth a detailed and comprehensive approach to countering violent extremism that serves as a call to arms for governments, businesses, and communities alike.”
—Matthew G. Olsen, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
“In How We Win, Farah Pandith offers fresh thinking, both profound and practical, on one of our most vexing challenges—combating violent extremism. She unearths ground truths, challenges assumptions, and questions orthodoxies in eye-opening ways. Drawing upon her extensive, firsthand experience, Pandith gets to the root causes of the problem and, as important, offers a clear, feasible path forward to solve it.”
—Eric J. McNulty, Associate Director, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, a joint program of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
“For more than decade, Farah Pandith has been on the front lines of the battle against extremist ideologies across the world. She’s provided her expertise to religious and political leaders, to diplomats and global leaders, and to two US presidents. Now that expertise is available in this remarkable and timely book. This is the new paradigm in the fight against global extremism.”
—Reza Aslan, author of God: A Human History and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
“It is hard to think of anyone more knowledgeable than Farah Pandith when it comes to countering violent extremism. After traveling the world serving two presidents, she brings enormous experience and common sense to the task. This book is full of wisdom about how to deal with one of our great challenges.”
—Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at Harvard University and author of The Future of Power
“How We Win is a smart, original and timely look at the ground reality of extremism in the Muslim world; and more important, how an unlikely alliance of entrepreneurs and technologists could provide the antidote. This is a must read for policy-makers and scholars alike, and all those interested in the future of the Muslim world.”
—Vali Nasr, Dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat
“Farah Pandith was a pioneer for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and appointed America’s first emissary to the Moslem World. Now a Harvard Senior Fellow, she illuminates in this indispensable book how America and her friends and allies can defeat the extremist threat and build a new and more positive relationship with the one fourth of humanity who are Moslems.”
—Ambassador (ret.) Nicholas Burns, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School.
“A new approach to countering global extremism. … With great passion and commitment, Pandith, a perceptive observer and strategic thinker, argues that the fight must encompass elements of government, business, private sector organizations, and local communities and philanthropists, all working together with like-minded individuals to stem the extremist tide. … An inspired, intensively focused examination of issues of and solutions about extremist ideology, sure to inspire spirited debate.”
