Terrorism and Homeland Security

RAND is a world leader in research on terrorism, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and homeland security—topics that affect a wide variety of policy areas and challenge individuals and nations worldwide. As a public service, RAND disseminates all its unclassified research online or in printed documents.

Research conducted by: Homeland Security and Defense Center; RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment; RAND National Security Research Division; RAND Project AIR FORCE; RAND Europe; RAND Arroyo Center; Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy

Featured at RAND

RAND Book Provides Critical Review of U.S. Actions Since 9/11; Recommends Future Anti-Terror Path

A new collection of essays by experts from the RAND Corporation examines America in the decade since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, focusing a critical eye on the nation's actions since the attacks and outlining changes in strategy needed to improve efforts against jihadist groups.

Reports (440)

Security Issues Facing the Tri-Border Area Between the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia — May 23, 2012

The area between the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia is a key hub of terrorist and related criminal activity in Southeast Asia. The Coast Watch System was designed to improve maritime domain awareness in the region but has some issues to overcome.

The Nature of the Chinese-Iranian Partnership and the Challenges It Poses for the U.S. — May 2, 2012

The partnership between China and Iran presents challenges to U.S. interests, including dissuading Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. An analysis of the factors driving Chinese-Iranian cooperation offers policy options for influencing this partnership to meet U.S. objectives.

Book by Noted Expert Proposes a Renaissance of Thought on Nuclear Deterrence for Today's Strategic Environment — Apr 17, 2012

A new book by the late French scholar Thérèse Delpech provides a critical review and update of nuclear deterrence theory, focusing a critical eye on nuclear issues during the Cold War, examining the lessons of past nuclear crises, and outlining ways in which these lessons apply to major nuclear powers and nuclear pretenders today.

Assessing the Benefits of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Regulatory Actions to Reduce Terrorism Risks — Apr 16, 2012

This document distills and synthesizes the proceedings of a workshop in which experts in the field of regulatory analysis and terrorism risk examined alternative approaches for estimating the benefits of regulations designed to reduce the risks of terrorist attacks in the United States. The workshop gave rise to several recommendations for improving the modeling and data collection that support the benefit-cost analysis of terrorism…

Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa'ida Since 9/11 — Apr 9, 2012

A comprehensive, landmark history and insider's account chronicles the ongoing battle against al Qa'ida, the greatest threat the West has faced in the modern era.

Exploring How the EU Should Establish a Cybercrime Centre — Mar 28, 2012

After visiting EU high tech crime units, conducting interviews with stakeholders, and holding a scenario-based workshop, RAND Europe researchers determined that a European Cybercrime Centre hosted by Europol would bring together input from several different entities and drive a common approach to tackling cybercrime.

How Should the United States Manage Future Irregular Warfare Challenges? — Mar 27, 2012

Based on America's recent experience in irregular warfare and future threats, there are several issues that should be considered: organization, the health of U.S. soldiers and their families, training and education, and inter-agency cooperation.

Using Pattern Analysis and Systematic Randomness to Allocate U.S. Border Security Resources — Mar 27, 2012

Pattern and trend analysis and systematic randomness can be used to position U.S. border security personnel and equipment effectively for interdiction, and in some circumstances the combined approach is competitive with perfect surveillance.

Analysis of the Cities Readiness Initiative — Mar 27, 2012

The Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) aims to improve communities' ability to rapidly provide life-saving medications during public health emergencies. The authors examine (1) the status of communities' operational capability to meet the goal of delivering medical countermeasures within 48 hours of a federal decision to deploy assets and (2) whether there is evidence that CRI has improved communities' capability to meet that goal.

Individual Disengagement from al Qa'ida-influenced Terrorist Groups — Mar 2, 2012

To inform the UK counterterrorism strategy, a project reviewed available evidence on factors associated with exit from violent extremist groups and the effectiveness of interventions to encourage individuals to leave such groups.

Characterizing and Exploring the Implications of Maritime Irregular Warfare — Feb 20, 2012

Although irregular warfare includes a range of activities in which naval forces have played an integral role, there has been little examination of the characteristics or potential of such operations in maritime environments. Current notions of irregular warfare would benefit from increased recognition of potential maritime contributions.

Conflict with al Qaeda Will Continue Into Its Third Decade, Although Tactics May Change — Feb 16, 2012

While al Qaeda's capacity for large-scale attacks has been drastically reduced and the organization seriously weakened, the United States can expect to continue its battle with the terrorist group for many years to come.

Is al Qaeda's Internet Strategy Working? — Dec 6, 2011

The immediate risks posed by al Qaeda's online campaign do not justify attempting to impose controls that could be costly to enforce and produce unintended consequences. However, the situation warrants continued monitoring for signals of new dangers.

Three Essays on Terrorism, its Relationship with Natural Disasters and its Effect on Female Labor Force Participation — Nov 15, 2011

Explores the relationship between natural disasters and terrorism and investigates and clarifies causal links between terrorism, female labor force participation, and larger gender disparities in the labor market.

Al Qaeda After Bin Laden: Implications for American Strategy: Addendum — Nov 2, 2011

Document submitted on November 1, 2011 as an addendum to testimony presented before the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, on June 22, 2011.

Al Qaeda's Efforts to Recruit Homegrown Jihadists in America Remain Largely Ineffective — Aug 31, 2011

Despite al Qaeda's increasing use of the Internet to attempt to radicalize and recruit homegrown terrorists in the United States, the turnout has been tiny and mostly inept.

Getting Better at Strategic Communication — Jul 12, 2011

If "strategic communication" as a term is too vague or becomes politically untenable, abandon it. Just do not allow the underlying effort to coordinate government impact on the information environment to be lost too.

Can Individuals' Patterns of Behavior Predict Violent Jihadist Actions? — Jul 27, 2011

An analysis of the pre-attack behaviors of the most significant Jihadist terrorist groups in the UK found that there are certain distinctive behavioral characteristics displayed as a result of planning, preparing, and implementing an act of terrorism, but more research will be needed to identify "signal indicators."

European Terrorism Trends Examined — Jul 6, 2011

Although most European terrorism plots of jihadist inspiration over the last five years appear to have been conducted independently, the most serious ones have tended to involve operational connections to groups operating outside of Europe.

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