In 2008, investigative journalist Jere Van Dyk was kidnapped and imprisoned for 45 days in the “no man’s land” between Afghanistan and Pakistan. For years after his ordeal, he was haunted by his abductors' motives: Why was he taken? Who were his captors? Why was he released? In the pursuit of answers, Van Dyk bravely returned to Afghanistan six years later and confronted the tortured memories - and startling truths - of his kidnapping.

What Van Dyk uncovered on his return was not just the story of his own abduction, but a highly sophisticated, and lucrative, network of kidnapping operations that finance terrorist organizations. From al-Qaeda to the Taliban to the Islamic State, Van Dyk discovered a rich underbelly, and growing global industry, of political kidnappings. His findings were startling.

Van Dyk, heralded as one of the most respected journalists reporting on the Middle East, joins us to tell the tale of his kidnapping and the operations transforming people into bargaining chips at the mercy of violent and pitiless extremists.

SPEAKER:

Jere Van Dyk
Investigative Journalist

MODERATOR:

Fred H. Lawson
Senior Fellow, Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St. Andrews