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Terrorism

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The Munich Olympics. The Lockerbie bombing. Oklahoma City. 9/11. London, Madrid, Mumbai. Terrorism is by no means a localized or recent phenomenon. Similarly, efforts to both catalog and counter terrorism, both at home and around the world, have been a key focus of RAND research since the early 1970s.

Commentary

Deadly Terrorist Threats Abound. Here Are the Key Dangers

Jul 20, 2020

Today's self-selecting solo terrorists answer only to their god, whether seeking to destroy all government, pursuing racial separation or genocidal goals, expressing sexual dissatisfaction, or simply wanting to leave their mark. Military operations are irrelevant. This is a deeper societal problem.
Report

Most Attacks on Western Diplomatic Facilities Culminate in Two Hours or Less

Jan 25, 2021

There have been 33 successful seizures of Western diplomatic facilities since 1979. The majority of attacks culminated in two hours or less, and over 90 percent culminated in six hours or less. A review of these attacks can help in developing effective response capabilities.

Explore Terrorism

Commentary

How Threats Against Lawmakers Could Distort the Political Landscape for Years

The political environment is changing in a way that goes beyond immediate security concerns. The prevalence of threats and violence as a feature of American politics will ripple throughout the political system. Our politics could be distorted by the vicious atmosphere for years.

Jan 25, 2021
News Release

Interest in a U.S. Grand Strategy of Restraint May Be Growing, So Advocates Need to Provide More Details

As the Biden Administration takes over, some U.S. policymakers have expressed interest in a new approach to America's role in the world: a realist grand strategy of restraint under which the U.S. would cooperate more with other powers, reduce its forward military presence and end or renegotiate some security commitments.

Jan 22, 2021
Blog

Keeping COVID-19 Vaccines Moving, the Capitol Attack, Media Literacy: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on keeping COVID-19 vaccines moving to save more lives; why we need a national commission to investigate the U.S. Capitol attack; media literacy as a tool to counter “Truth Decay,” and more.

Jan 22, 2021
Report

Rethinking the U.S. Approach to the World

Questions about U.S. grand strategy and its associated costs have taken on new urgency because of the economic effects of the pandemic. If the United States adopted a realist grand strategy of restraint, it would cooperate more with other powers, reduce its forward military presence, and end some security commitments.

Jan 21, 2021
Commentary

Why We Need a January 6 Commission to Investigate the Attack on the Capitol

The history of politically charged violence in and against the United States can be read in the reports of its national commissions. The takeover of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 demands such an inquiry.

Jan 20, 2021
Multimedia

The Likelihood of Violence Following the U.S. Presidential Inauguration

Brian Michael Jenkins, senior adviser to the RAND president, discusses the likelihood of violence that could occur following Inauguration Day in response to election results.

Jan 15, 2021
Blog

Political Violence, COVID-19 Vaccine Questions, Mental Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on why we need to brace for more political violence after the Capitol attack, COVID-19 vaccine questions and answers, how to reform the U.S. mental health system, and more.

Jan 15, 2021
Commentary

The Battle of Capitol Hill

The deadly mob assault on the U.S. Capitol Building was a predictable possibility. Democracy held, but security failed, spectacularly. We need to be better prepared for future acts of political violence.

Jan 11, 2021
Blog

A Message from Our President, Medical Mistrust, Insulin Prices: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Wednesday’s siege on the U.S. Capitol, Americans' psychological distress, medical mistrust and COVID-19 vaccines, and more.

Jan 8, 2021
Announcement

Statement by Michael D. Rich on the U.S. Capitol Siege

The audacity of the rioters at the U.S. Capitol and the violence they perpetrated should have no place in the political process, although tragically, and all too often, violence finds its home in the United States.

Jan 7, 2021
Commentary

Yemen's Chaos Creates a New Opportunity for the Biden-Harris Team

More than one-quarter million Yemenis have been killed in the nation's civil war. And 150,000 children have died from starvation and left Yemen on the brink of collapse. The foundations of peace must be Yemeni-led, but there is much that the new U.S. administration could do to support the process.

Nov 24, 2020
Journal Article

Lessons from Maritime Narcotics Interdiction: Interdiction in the Maritime Source, Transit, and Arrival Zones of the Western Hemisphere

Sharing information with foreign partners and regional, local, and private actors has been proven to be absolutely critical to success in combating any transnational threat and preventing illegal activities from threatening the homeland and allies.

Nov 5, 2020
Journal Article

Social Media and Influence Operations Technologies: Implications for Great Power Competition

Russia, China, and the so-called Islamic State are three key U.S. adversaries that have exploited online technologies for propaganda. This chapter reviews the aims, capabilities, and limitations of online propaganda for each of these entities.

Oct 23, 2020
Blog

Russian Propaganda, Domestic Terrorism, America's Electric Grid: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how Americans react to Russian memes on Facebook, the possibility of domestic terrorism during election season, protecting the U.S. electric grid, and more.

Oct 16, 2020
Report

Counter-Radicalization Bot Research: Using Social Bots to Fight Violent Extremism

As the online recruitment of violent extremist organizations grows, the U.S. government may benefit from promising emerging technology tools to rapidly detect targets of such recruitment efforts and deliver counter-radicalization content to them.

Oct 8, 2020
Commentary

Will There Be Domestic Terrorism During Election Season?

The COVID-19 pandemic has roiled the elections. The United States is deeply divided and the political system is polarized. Under these fraught circumstances, even a minor event can have far-reaching repercussions. What are the prospects for domestic terrorism in the context of U.S. elections?

Oct 7, 2020
Journal Article

The Future Role of the U.S. Armed Forces in Counterterrorism

This essay provides observations on the future role of the armed forces in counterterrorism and the future role of counterterrorism forces in great power competition.

Oct 6, 2020
Commentary

How to Build Better Militaries in Africa: Lessons from Niger

To help counter the threat of terrorism and build the capacity of African militaries, the U.S. government spends over $1.5 billion a year on security assistance to the African continent. Does this support work?

Oct 2, 2020
Commentary

The American Jihad Was a Failure. For Those Who Joined, It Was a Path to Destruction

To keep the jihad going after 9/11, al Qaeda exhorted homegrown terrorists to take up arms in the United States. ISIS later made similar appeals. These calls to arms yielded some plots and a few attacks, but overall, the American jihad was a failure.

Sep 23, 2020

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Andrew R. Morral

Senior Behavioral Scientist, Director of the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research

Andrew R. Morral is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, leader of Gun Policy in America, a RAND initiative to understand the effects of gun policies, and director of the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research, a philanthropy that will award more than $25m in research…
Terry L. Schell

Senior Behavioral Scientist

Terry L. Schell is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Much of his research has focused on post-traumatic stress disorder, among civilian survivors of community violence as well as service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. That research has been published in a wide…

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