Global Terrorism

"This report describes homegrown violent jihadists and the plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11. For this report, 'homegrown' describes terrorist activity or plots perpetrated within the United States or abroad by American citizens, legal permanent residents, or visitors radicalized largely within the United States. The term 'jihadist' describes radicalized individuals using Islam as an ideological and/or religious justification for their belief in the establishment of a global caliphate, or jurisdiction governed by a Muslim civil and religious leader known as a caliph. The term 'violent jihadist' characterizes jihadists who have made the jump to illegally supporting, plotting, or directly engaging in violent terrorist activity. The report also discusses the radicalization process and the forces driving violent extremist activity. It analyzes post-9/11 domestic jihadist terrorism and describes law enforcement and intelligence efforts to combat terrorism and the challenges associated with those efforts. Appendix A provides details about each of the post-9/11 homegrown jihadist terrorist plots and attacks. There is an 'executive summary' at the beginning that summarizes the report's findings."

From the Preface: "In November 2015, Jeh C. Johnson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (the Department), directed the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), to establish a subcommittee (Subcommittee) that is focused on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). The Subcommittee was stood up to act as an incubator of ideas for the new Office for Community Partnerships (DHS/OCP), and has worked to leverage outside expertise and new thinking to support and enhance as well as assist in reframing and re-envisioning, where necessary the Department's CVE efforts. [...] This report focuses on the spread of violent extremist ideology and the recruitment of American youth to extremist groups, and how the Department can be a platform and and engine to leverage partnerships in the technology, health, education, communications, cultural, philanthropic, financial, and non-government sectors to counter such recruitment. While recognizing previous efforts - from those of the Spring 2010 Countering Violent Extremism Working Group to the more-recent Foreign Fighter Task Force - this report seeks to focus on discrete areas, separate and distinct than those undertaken in other efforts. "

"Although terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism declined globally for the second year in a row in 2016, terrorist groups continued to exploit ungoverned territory and ongoing conflict to expand their reach, and to direct and inspire attacks around the world. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) remained the most potent terrorist threat to global security, with eight recognized branches and numerous undeclared networks operating beyond the group's core concentration in Iraq and Syria. Al-Qa'ida (AQ) and its regional affiliates remained a threat to the U.S. homeland and our interests abroad despite counterterrorism pressure by U.S. partners and increased international efforts to counter violent Islamist ideology and messaging. Terrorist groups supported by Iran -- most prominently Hizballah -- continued to threaten U.S. allies and interests even in the face of U.S.-led intensification of financial sanctions and law enforcement."

"The Islamic State (IS, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL/ISIS or the Arabic acronym 'Daesh') is a transnational Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group that has seized areas of Iraq and Syria since 2013, threatening the wider region. There is debate over the degree to which the Islamic State organization may directly threaten U.S. homeland security or U.S. facilities and personnel in the region. Its advance threatens several U.S. regional partners. The forerunners of the Islamic State were part of the insurgency against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, and the organization has in the years since the 2011 U.S. withdrawal from Iraq expanded its control over significant areas of both Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State has thrived in the disaffected Sunni tribal areas of Iraq and taken control of some eastern provinces of Syria torn by that country's civil war. In 2014, Islamic State-led forces, supported by groups linked to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and some Sunni Arabs, advanced along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq, seizing population centers including Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities. Since then, IS forces have massacred Syrian and Iraqi adversaries, including some civilians, often from ethnic or religious minorities, and murdered several hostages, including U.S. citizens. Islamic State attempts to make further gains continue. The group's tactics have drawn regional and international ire, and raised U.S. attention to Iraq's political problems and to the war in Syria."

From the Executive Summary: "Today's terrorist landscape is more fluid and complex than ever. For this reason, counterterrorism remains a top priority for this Administration. Our principal terrorist enemies are radical Islamist terrorist groups that seek to conduct attacks globally, violate our borders, and radicalize and recruit potential extremists within the United States and abroad. We continue to face threats from Iran, the most prominent state sponsor of terrorism, through its global network of operatives and its ongoing support to an array of terrorist groups. Terrorists motivated by other forms of extremism also use violence to threaten the homeland and challenge United States interests. These terrorist threats are different in many ways, but they all seek to use violence to undermine the United States and disrupt the American way of life."

"Threats to US national security will expand and diversify in the coming year, driven in part by China and Russia as they respectively compete more intensely with the United States and its traditional allies and partners. This competition cuts across all domains, involves a race for technological and military superiority, and is increasingly about values. Russia and China seek to shape the international system and regional security dynamics and exert influence over the politics and economies of states in all regions of the world and especially in their respective backyards. [...] The post-World War II international system is coming under increasing strain amid continuing cyber and WMD proliferation threats, competition in space, and regional conflicts. Among the disturbing trends are hostile states and actors' intensifying online efforts to influence and interfere with elections here and abroad and their use of chemical weapons. Terrorism too will continue to be a top threat to US and partner interests worldwide, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The development and application of new technologies will introduce both risks and opportunities, and the US economy will be challenged by slower global economic growth and growing threats to US economic competitiveness."

This is the May 7, 2015 hearing titled, "Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment," held before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. From the opening statement of Tom Carper, U.S. Senator from Delaware, who discusses the evolution of the threats the US has faced after the September 11, 2001 attacks: "Groups like ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria], Al-Shabaab, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have used social media and online propaganda to spread their call to extremists here in America and around the world to carry out their own attacks against us. Moreover, ISIS has seemingly perfected the ability to use social media to lure Western recruits to Syria for training. These new tactics mean that we can no longer rely solely on our ability to use military force to eliminate a terrorist threat. [...] Today we will begin to examine the narratives put forward by these terrorist groups over social media and also how those narratives are being used to influence vulnerable individuals here and in other Western countries. And we will look for common-sense solutions that our government, along with other governments with whom we are allied, can employ to counter these groups' narratives and to eliminate this tool from the terrorists' toolbox." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Peter Bergen, J.M. Berger, Mubin Shaikh, and Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.

This is the November 15, 2012 hearing, "WMD Terrorism: Assessing the Continued Homeland Threat" before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. From the opening statement of Patrick Meehan: "The Aspen Institute's WMD Working Group has assessed that WMD terrorism is a continuing and serious threat to the U.S. Homeland. At today's hearing, we will hear from the Institute on where we are and where we need to go. This report reminds us that some of the building blocks for weapons of mass destruction are appropriately and legitimately used in the U.S. for medical and other peaceful purposes. So we must also ensure that certain biological, radiological, nuclear, and chemical materials never fall into the hands of domestic terrorists or others who would do us harm. [...] The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also played a large role on ramping up the preparedness apparatus and since 2004 has spent at least $70 million developing more than 20 CBRN [Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear] risk assessments. In March of this year, this Committee marked up legislation I proposed in order to establish weapons of mass destruction intelligence and information sharing functions of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at DHS and to require dissemination of information analyzed by the Department to entities with responsibilities relating to homeland security. This is a threat that I take very seriously, as the results of a successful CBRN attack on the homeland would be catastrophic." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Patrick Meehan, Brian Higgins, Leonard A. Cole, and Randall J. Larsen.

This is the April 22, 2015 Hearing on 'Survey of Global Terrorism and Terrorist Financing,' held before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services. From the opening remarks of the survey: "Today's terror organizations are more evolved, thanks in no small part to better methods of funding and financing their dangerous brands of hate, extremism, and violence. The threats to freedom and democracy posed by the Islamic State and groups like it circle the globe, and the United States can ill afford to combat these enemies on the battlefield alone. Any global strategy against terror groups worldwide must attack at their funding source. Organizations, no matter how ideologically fanatical, can't effectively function without requisite resources." Statements, letters, and other materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Seth G. Jones, Jonathan Schanzer, and Juan C. Zarate.

This is the April 17, 2018 hearing "State Sponsors of Terrorism: An Examination of Iran's Global Terrorism Network," held before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence of the Committee on Homeland Security. From the statement of Peter T. King: "The Iranian revolution, which started in 1979, has been disastrous for the region, for the world, and particularly a significant threat to the United States. Since 1984 the government of Iran has been designated by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism. Iranian external operations, including support for proxy terrorists and Shia militia groups have played a central role in sup-porting this designation. These groups have destabilized other countries, directly threatened Israel, undermined democracy, and escalated tensions through campaigns of terror." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Emanuele Ottolenghi, Michael Pregent, Nader Uskowi, and Brian Katulis.

"The idea of homegrown terrorism is not a new concept, especially considering the history of challenges faced by the United States and other Western countries. However, the current violent jihadist problem has overshadowed those past misfortunes in terms of its objective and volatility. What is emergent is the means by which the individuals involved in this movement reinforce or possibly operationalize their radicalized behavior. The Internet is often that vehicle. Efforts to reform U.S. intelligence have placed increasing value on open source information for threat assessments. Consequently, the open Internet has been targeted in search of radical actors, both foreign and homegrown. Some analysts contend that the availability of radical discourse on the Internet presents an opportunity for early identification by authorities. This thesis analyzes the value of open source exploitation of the Internet in the domestic counterterrorism role in relation to other detection techniques in order to extract best practices and lessons learned for improved intelligence and law enforcement activities."

The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) "serves as an important national resource that rigorously studies the terrorist threat and provides policy-relevant research while moving the boundaries of academic knowledge. The CTC's distinguished scholars, international network of experts, and access to senior U.S. government leadership set it apart from any other like enterprise. [...] The Center directs multiple graduate-level seminars on Terrorism and Counterterrorism and administers a minor in terrorism studies. In addition, the CTC directs counterterrorism educational programs for four partner government agencies. [...] The CTC's research program produces path-breaking analysis on the dynamic and evolving terrorist threat. The Center's deep intellectual capital and ability to apply theory to practice creates a unique research model that not only informs strategic counterterrorism thinking but moves the boundaries of academic knowledge. [...] The Center leverages its deep expertise to contribute to discrete advisory efforts for federal, state, and local governments including: strategic analysis, operational support, and organizational strategy design. "

"The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror (START) is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, tasked by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate with using state-of-the-art theories, methods, and data from the social and behavioral sciences to improve understanding of the origins, dynamics, and social and psychological impacts of terrorism. START, based at the University of Maryland, College Park, aims to provide timely guidance on how to disrupt terrorist networks, reduce the incidence of terrorism, and enhance the resilience of U.S. society in the face of the terrorist threat. To achieve this goal, START has assembled a team of more than 30 researchers from institutions across the United States and around the world to conduct cutting-edge research related to the terrorist threat. These researchers represent the full range of disciplines within the social and behavioral sciences, including sociology, criminology, political science, psychology, communication, geography, economics, and anthropology. Adding to this truly interdisciplinary endeavor are the efforts of experts in public policy, history, public health, foreign languages, and engineering working as part of the START research team. Through individual research projects and in-depth collaborative efforts, this research team provides the homeland-security community as well as the public at large with insights about how and why terrorist groups form, about the decisions and behaviors of individual terrorists and terrorist groups, and about how societies can best respond to and prepare for known and unknown terrorist threats."