Todd C. Helmus is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. He specializes in terrorism, strategic communications and social media. Helmus has authored numerous studies that focused on improving U.S. efforts to counter militant recruitment and decrease popular support for terrorism and insurgency. Most recently he has examined the networks of ISIS supporters and opponents on Twitter. Helmus has worked closely with U.S. special operations forces (SOF) in Afghanistan where he served as an advisor to U.S. commanders and led studies on U.S. efforts to train Afghan Special Security Forces. In 2008, he also served in Baghdad as an advisor to Multi-National Forces Iraq. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Wayne State University.
Selected Publications
Elizabeth Bodine Baron, Todd Helmus, Madeline Magnuson, Zev Winkelman, Examining ISIS Support and Opposition Networks on Twitter, RAND (RR-1328), 2016
Todd Helmus, Erin York, Peter Chalk, Promoting Online Voices for Countering Violent Extremism, RAND (RR-130), 2013
Austin Long, Stephanie Pezard, Bryce Loidolt, Todd C. Helmus, Locals Rule: Historical Lessons for Creating Local Defense Forces for Afghanistan and Beyond, RAND (MG-1232), 2012
Lowell Schwartz, Todd C. Helmus, Dalia Dassa Kaye, Nadia Oweidat, Barriers to the Broad Dissemination of Creative Works in the Arab World, RAND (MG-879), 2009
Todd Helmus "Why and How Some People Become Terrorists," in Paul K. Davis et al., Social Science for Counterterrorism: Putting the Pieces Together, RAND (RP-1408-01), 2009
Todd C. Helmus, Christopher Paul, Russell W. Glenn, Enlisting Madison Avenue: The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation, RAND (MG-607), 2007
