• Prosecuting Female Terrorists: What Do We Know?

    Research from Europe and America suggests women frequently receive lesser sentences for terrorism-related crimes than male offenders. What do we know about prosecuting female terrorists in England and Wales?

  • Houthis’ Lesson for the U.S. Army: How a Land Force Can Fight a Maritime War

    The US Army should consider borrowing a page from the playbook of Yemen’s Houthi militants. The character of war is always changing, and the Houthis’ ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea may prove to be one of the more significant inflection points in military history.

  • ISIS: An Enduring Threat

    ISIS remains an enduring security threat and its narrative has sustained through the attacks and propaganda carried out by its affiliates. Socio-political grievances and religious repression will continue fueling support for ISIS. There is a lack of global appetite to counter the ISIS threat due to geopolitical confrontations and armed conflicts raging worldwide

  • Emerging Tech and Terrorism: Adoption Patterns and Implications

    The diffusion of innovation theory highlights that most organizations, groups, and individuals adopt innovations in the mid-to-late product lifecycle. This applies to technology adoption by terror groups: most violent non-state actors will adopt technology once it has crossed several thresholds, including cost, availability, testing (i.e., proof of concept), and ease of use.

  • Threats of Political Violence Are Distorting Reality

    Mobilizations by extremist groups in 2024 are on track to be at their lowest level since 2020, according to a new report, but public officials — particularly those who work on elections — continue to face hostile threats.

  • Sahel’s Terrorism Problem(s)

    Al-Qaeda has begun increasingly replicating the tactics employed by its Salafi-jihadi rival, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS), in Africa’s Sahel region by relying on powerful affiliates like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). It has done so to revitalize its ideological appeal and rejuvenate its primacy in the global jihadi fold, even as ISIS has remained the deadliest terror group for the ninth consecutive year.

  • The October 7 Attack: An Assessment of the Intelligence Failings

    Hours after the Hamas attack of October 7 began, they were widely attributed to an apparent Israeli intelligence failure, with pundits pointing to several possible sources, including a misunderstanding of Hamas’ intentions, cognitive biases, and an overreliance on the country’s technological superiority. Building on previous literature on surprise attacks and intelligence failures to examine both Israel’s political level and intelligence level prior to October 7, 2023, the findings suggest that the attack was likely not the result of a single glaring failure but rather the accumulation of several problems at both levels.

  • Intimidation, Harassment and Support for Hamas Mark Widespread Anti-Israel Student Protests on 10/7 Anniversary

    On the grim anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terror massacre in southern Israel, when thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, anti-Israel student group demonstrations on U.S. campuses again featured extreme pro-terror messages that glorified the attack and sought to disrupt campus life. Some events were marked by vandalism, intimidation and harassment.

  • One Year After the October 7 Attacks: The Impact on Four Fronts

    The turbulent year since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel draws to a close, marked by a sharp escalation in conflict between Israel and Iran and its proxies. Four CFR experts assess the changes since the attacks.

  • A Year to the Start of the Latest Round of the Israel-Hamas Conflict: Q&A with RAND Experts

    The lates round of war between Israel and Hamas has highlighted a complex web of strategic, geopolitical, and humanitarian challenges. In this Q&A, RAND experts delve into the regional and global implications of the conflict, the factors that led up to it, and where it could be headed.

  • A Year of Devastation: With Hope and Trust Shattered, What Can Bring an End to the Violence in Israel-Palestine?

    Hate comes easily in the face of injustices. It is hard to empathize with the misfortunes of “others” who may or may not have brought their miseries upon themselves. Those who have been severely aggrieved by this human tragedy may struggle to apply the same yardstick to others, certainly in the near future. But the rest of us can, and should, do better.

  • The Weapons Which Killed Nasrallah

    The 83 tons of explosives which were dropped on 28 September 2024 in the heart of the Dahiya district in Beirut destroyed a deeply dug network of tunnels and bunkers which served as Hezbollah headquarters, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and about two dozen of his senior aids. The bombs were BLU-109 type bombs, which were fitted with a JDAM system to turn each “stupid” gravity bomb into a precision-munition smart bomb.

  • The Nasrallah Killing Is a Crushing Blow to Hezbollah

    Hezbollah leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah possessed a rare set of abilities that made the group a formidable foe to Israel and a power broker in Lebanon. His killing by Israel sharply weakens the threat posed by the group and its patron, Iran.

  • Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Likely Killed in Israeli Air Strike

    Shortly 18:00 Friday, Israel time, advanced fighter jets of the Israel Air Force (IAF) directed eight heavy bunker-penetrating bombs — similar to the munitions the IAF used against Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip – into the basements of several high-rise buildings in the southern Beirut section of Da’aheha. The Da’aheh district is a sprawling Shi’ia neighborhood, and the deeply dug network of basements under the high-rises served as Hezbollah headquarters. The target: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezollah leader since 1992.

  • Online Signals of Extremist Mobilization

    Olivia Brown’s study analyses the online behaviors of individuals who mobilized to right-wing extremist action, revealing that discussions about violent actions and logistical planning, rather than ideological content, are key indicators of mobilization.