Nearly 100 people gathered at the Coastal Carolina University’s Burroughs and Chapin Building on the morning of Thursday, May 2, for the sixth Chanticleer Intelligence Brief Symposium. The event featured timely updates about some of the world’s most critical hot spots by a panel of CIB Analysts. It was held in conjunction with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Coastal Carolina University, and supported by the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at CCU.

The audience was exposed to analytical briefs about several timely topics. The CIB’s Europe Analyst Michael Gompper spoke about the trajectory and implications of the Brexit process in the United Kingdom. Russia and China specialist Audrey Oien discussed the current state of relations between the two once-communist countries. The CIB’s Latin America Analyst, Joseph Cain, spoke about the current state of the National Liberation Army (ELN) militant group in Colombia. Next came Kaitlin Presnell, our Yemen Analyst, who explained the recent developments relating to the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen. The two-hour event concluded with the CIB’s Transnational Issues specialist, Tyra Bjorlo (pictured, right), who discussed the role of women fighters in militant Islamist groups.

During the event, the CIB raised funds for its activities by offering community subscriptions to The Intelligence Review, its peer-reviewed publication that is published twice a year in cooperation with the European Intelligence Academy. The Symposium was moderated by CIB Faculty Advisor Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis. The CIB wishes to express its gratitude to CCU Director of Community Outreach Dr. Carol Osborne, OLLI Senior Director of Operations Kelli Barker, OLLI Administrative Specialist Ellen Jampole, and OLLI Board of Advisors member Samih Baalbaki for their help in coordinating this event.