Trends in Terrorism
Threats to the United States and the Future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act
ResearchPublished Jun 16, 2005
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) requires insurers to offer commercial insurance that will pay on claims that occur from a terrorist attack, and for losses on the scale of 9/11, TRIA provides a "backstop" in the form of free reinsurance. The authors describe the evolving terrorist threat with the goal of comparing the underlying risk of attack to the architecture of financial protection that has been facilitated by TRIA, which will "sunset" in December 2005. While TRIA was originally justified primarily as a measure to stimulate the economy, insurance also has the effect of promoting resilience in the aftermath of an attack. Thus, a functioning terrorism insurance system, at least in the context of economic targeting by al Qaeda, should be thought of as not just an economic development mechanism but also as a counterterrorism tool.
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- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Web Only
- Year: 2005
- Pages: 80
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/MG393
- Document Number: MG-393-CTRMP
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RAND Style Manual
Chalk, Peter, Bruce Hoffman, Robert T. Reville, and Anna-Britt Kasupski, Trends in Terrorism: Threats to the United States and the Future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, RAND Corporation, MG-393-CTRMP, 2005. As of September 12, 2026: https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG393.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Chalk, Peter, Bruce Hoffman, Robert T. Reville, and Anna-Britt Kasupski, Trends in Terrorism: Threats to the United States and the Future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2005. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG393.html.
The research described in this report was conducted by the RAND Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy.
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