Cover: The Atomization of Political Violence

The Atomization of Political Violence

Published in: EICTP Vienna Research Papers on Transnational Terrorism and Counter-terrorism: Trends and Scenarios of Transnational Terrorism. Volume III: Forecast, Anticipation and Prediction of Defining Trends Against the Backdrop of Uncertainty, pages 83–93 (December 2021)

Posted on RAND.org on February 25, 2022

by Brian Michael Jenkins

We are witnessing what could be called the atomization of political violence, in which individuals—not groups—motivated partly by ideology, partly by personal grievances, untethered or only loosely affiliated with an organization, are increasingly carrying out violent attacks on their own initiative, without central direction.

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