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A consortium of researchers dedicated to improving the understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism

Threat Assessment

Title Investigators Project Period
A Climate of Terror: Approaches to the Study of Climate Change and Terrorism Marcus A. Boyd, Samuel D. Henkin -
A Comparative Study of Violent Extremism and Gangs Gary LaFree, Scott H. Decker, David C. Pyrooz -
A Toolkit for Preventing Targeted Violence on College Campuses Gary LaFree -
Anatomizing Radiological and Nuclear Non-State Adversaries Gary Ackerman, Jeffrey Bale, R. Karl Rethemeyer -
Anatomizing the Behavior of Chemical and Biological Non-State Adversaries Gary Ackerman, Victor Asal -
Behavioral Assessments Based on Automated Text Analyses James Pennebaker -
Biosecurity in the Americas: Research, Practitioner Education/Training and Transition Markus Binder, Steve S. Sin, Ph.D., Alexandra Williams
Border Crossings and Terrorist Attacks in the United States: Lessons for Protecting Against Dangerous Entrants Brent Smith, Erin Miller, Gary LaFree, Kathleen Smarick -
Bridging Religious Communities and Technology Providers to Counter Narratives of Violent Extremism Alejandro Beutel, Peter Weinberger -
Climate Change and Terrorism: A Call to Action
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in Southeast Asia Samuel D. Henkin, Marcus A. Boyd -
Country Reports on Terrorism - Statistical Annex Gary LaFree, Erin Miller -
Developing Integrated Radiological and Nuclear Detection Architecture for the Interior and International Mission Space Steve S. Sin, Ph.D., Marcus A. Boyd -
Dissuading Adversaries and their Radiological/Nuclear Pathways: Integrating Deterrence Theory and Analytics in the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA) Amy Pate, Brandon Behlendorf, Gary Ackerman, John Sawyer, Steve S. Sin, Ph.D., Hamid Mohtadi, Marcus A. Boyd -
Domestic Weapons of Mass Destruction: Populations at Risk from U.S. Chemical Facilities Releases Susan Cutter -
European Converts to Islam: An Evolving Threat? Emmanuel Karagiannis -
Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Erin Miller, Gary LaFree, Laura Dugan -
Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Acceleration Erin Miller -
Insider Threat for Inbound International Air Cargo Gary Ackerman -
Integration of International Architecture Analysis Brandon Behlendorf, Emily Iarocci, Gary Ackerman, John Sawyer -
International and Regional Architecture Reports Brandon Behlendorf, Emily Iarocci, Gary Ackerman, Steve S. Sin, Ph.D. -
New Analytical Methods for the Exploitation of Open-Source Structured Databases to Enhance Situational Awareness for Effective Counter-WMD Strategies Ronald Breiger, Gary Ackerman, Victor Asal, H. Brinton Milward, R. Karl Rethemeyer -
Opportunities for Public-Private Partnership in Countering Online Extremism and Recruitment Brandon Behlendorf -
Organized and/or Transnational Crime/Drug Cartel Nexus with Illicit Radiological/Nuclear Trade, Smuggling and/or Terrorism in Europe and North, Sahelian and West Africa Amy Pate, John Sawyer, Marcus A. Boyd, Steve S. Sin, Ph.D. -
Population Vulnerability Analysis, Spatial Social Science, and GIS Susan Cutter -
PRND Capability Development Framework Mapping John Sawyer, Marcus A. Boyd -
Profiling the CB Adversary: Motivation, Psychology and Decision Gary Ackerman -
Program to Prepare Communities for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks Erin Miller -
Radiological/Nuclear Adversaries Future Project Gary Ackerman, John Sawyer -
Rehabilitation and Reintegration for CVE Programs William Braniff
Resources and Resilience: A Computational Model of Strategic Influence -
Terrorism and Targeted Violence in the United States Erin Miller, Michael Jensen -
Terrorist Groups and Weapons of Mass Destruction Gary Ackerman, Jonathan Wilkenfeld, R. Karl Rethemeyer, Victor Asal -
Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) Process John Sawyer, Steve S. Sin, Ph.D. -
Validating Models of Adversary Behavior Jun Zhuang -
Where the Extremes May Touch: The Potential for Collaboration Between Islamist, Right- and Left-Wing Extremists Gary Ackerman, Jeffrey Bale -
Project Title Publication Date Publication Type
A Climate of Terror? Approaches to the Study of Climate Change and Terrorism 2022-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
A Climate of Terror? Climate Change as a Means for Terrorist Exploitation 2022-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
A Climate of Terror? Climate Change as a Potential Ideological Driver of Terrorism 2022-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
A Climate of Terror? Climate Change as an Indirect Contributor to Terrorism 2022-05-20T12:00:00 Research Brief
A semi-stochastic algorithm approach to generating CBRNE terrorist attack plot scenarios 2023-07-24T12:00:00 Journal Article
A Three-Stage Evacuation Decision-Making and Behavior Model for the Onset of an Attack 2017-06-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Advancements in Open-Source Geospatial Technologies and the Exploitation by Bad Actors 2024-09-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Advancements in the Connection Between Internet of Things (IoT) and Geospatial Technologies 2024-09-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
An Army of One: Assessing CBRN Pursuit and Use by Lone Wolves and Autonomous Cells 2014-01-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Anatomizing Chemical and Biological Non-State Adversaries 2014-03-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Application of Emerging-State Actor Theory: Analysis of Intervention and Containment Policies 2018-05-20T12:00:00 Journal Article
Assessing Terrorist Risks: Developing an Algorithm-Based Model for Law Enforcement 2012-01-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Assessing the Bioweapons Threat 2015-08-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Attitudes Regarding Becoming an Engaged Bystander for Targeted Violence Prevention 2020-05-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
August 2013 Security Threat to Americans Abroad 2013-08-01T12:00:00 Background Report
Autologistic Models for Benchmark Risk or Vulnerability Assessment of Urban Terrorism Outcomes 2017-10-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Benchmark Analysis for Quantifying Urban Vulnerability to Terrorist Incidents 2007-12-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Biosecurity in the Americas: Regional Threat Assessment 2023-07-17T12:00:00 Report
Biosecurity in the Americas: Regional threat assessment in Chile 2023-12-18T12:00:00 Report
Biosecurity in the Americas: Regional threat assessment in Colombia 2023-12-18T12:00:00 Report
Biosecurity in the Americas: Regional threat assessment in Panama 2023-12-18T12:00:00 Report
Characteristics of Lone-Wolf Violent Offenders: a Comparison of Assassins and School Attackers 2013-02-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Climate Change and Security 2022-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Climate Change and Terrorism: A Call to Action 2022-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Climate Change and Terrorism: Key Insights 2022-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Climate Change, Fish Production, and Maritime Piracy 2023-04-25T12:00:00 Journal Article
Climate Security and Russian Influence in North and West Africa 2025-03-28T12:00:00 Research Brief
Climate Security in Southeast Asia 2023-04-17T12:00:00 Research Brief
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in North and West Africa 2024-12-27T12:00:00 START Reports
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in North and West Africa. Rapid Review 1: Farmer-Herder Conflict 2024-12-29T12:00:00 START Reports
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in North and West Africa. Rapid Review 2: Russian Influence 2024-12-30T12:00:00 START Reports
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in Southeast Asia 2023-10-09T12:00:00 START Reports
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in Southeast Asia: Conceptualization of Climate Security in Southeast Asia 2024-04-01T12:00:00 START Reports
Comparing Violent Extremism and Terrorism to Other Forms of Targeted Violence 2024-03-25T12:00:00 Journal Article
Connecting Adversarial and Environmental Geopolitics in Southeast Asia 2023-04-24T12:00:00 Research Brief
Contingencies of Violent Radicalization: The Terror Contagion Simulation 2021-12-20T12:00:00 Journal Article
Coping with Uncertainty in Adversarial Risk Analysis 2017-01-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Countering the Inhumane: Modeling Probable Pathways for Human Smuggling and Trafficking Along the U.S.-Mexico Border 2015-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Cross-National Patterns of Terrorism: Comparing Trajectories for Total, Attributed and Fatal Attacks, 1970-2006 2010-07-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Cultural Evolutionary Mismatches in Response to Collective Threat 2021-09-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
CVE Field Principles for Local Government Agencies 2016-12-01T12:00:00 Discussion Point
Determining Extremist Organizations' Likelihood of Conducting Cyber Attacks 2016-06-01T12:00:00 Conference Paper
Dilettantes, Ideologues, and the Weak: Terrorists Who Don't Kill 2008-07-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Discussion Point: Is Aaron Alexis part of a larger phenomenon of lone-actor grievance-based violence? 2013-09-01T12:00:00 Discussion Point
Does Violent Secessionism Work? 2019-05-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Dynamic Forecasting Conditional Probability of Bombing Attacks Based on Time-Series and Intervention Analysis 2016-08-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Early Detection of Terrorism Outbreaks Using Prospective Space–Time Scan Statistics 2012-10-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Emerging Biotechnology Capacity and Emerging Biosecurity Threats in Colombia and Chile 2024-04-19T12:00:00 Book Chapter
Expert Views on Biological Threat Characterization for the U.S. Government: A Delphi Study 2017-03-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
External Interventions: Bluffing and Adaptive Learning in Civil Wars 2024-10-18T12:00:00 Journal Article
Extreme Hatred: Revisiting the Hate Crime and Terrorism Relationship 2016-05-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Foundational Datasets: Global Chemical, Biological, Radiological, & Nuclear Data Suite & Portal 2025-01-02T12:00:00 START Reports
Gauging the Threat 2013-08-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Government Responses to Asymmetric Threats: The State of the Literature on Counterterrorism from 2010 to 2023 2024-12-30T12:00:00 START Reports
Government Responses to Asymmetric Threats: The State of the Literature on Information Operations from 2002 to 2022 2024-12-20T12:00:00 START Reports
Gray Zone Crises in MENA and Eastern Europe 2017-03-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Gun ownership and gun violence: A comparison of the United States and Switzerland 2024-08-03T12:00:00 Journal Article
Have Motivations for Terrorism Changed? 2005-11-01T12:00:00 Book Chapter
Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami: Evaluating the Threat Posed by a Radical Islamic Group that Remains Nonviolent 2006-02-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Interfaith Programs on College Campuses: Lessons Learned 2011-03-01T12:00:00 Research Brief
Investigating the Applicability of Macro-Level Criminology Theory to Terrorism: A County-Level Analysis 2014-11-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Investigating the Applicability of Situational Crime Prevention to the Public Mass Violence Context 2019-12-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Killing Range: Explaining Lethality Variance within a Terrorist Organization 2013-11-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Linguistic Models of Negative Language Attitude 2024-11-05T12:00:00 Journal Article
Making the Wrong Connection: The Determinants of Terrorist Targeting of Airplanes and Airports 2010-02-01T12:00:00 Conference Paper
Political Islam in the Former Soviet Union: Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan Compared 2010-10-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Political Islam in Uzbekistan: Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami 2006-02-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
Profiling the WMD Terrorism Threat 2009-08-01T12:00:00 Book Chapter
Re-Thinking Climate Security 2023-04-11T12:00:00 Research Brief
Root causes of radicalization: the terror-contagion hypothesis 2023-10-16T12:00:00 Journal Article
Scanning the Consequences of Demographic Change for the Emerging Landscape 2016-02-01T12:00:00 Book Chapter
Systemic innovation for countering violent radicalization: Systems engineering in a policy context 2024-01-18T12:00:00 Journal Article
Terror on the Blockchain: The Emergent Crypto-Crime-Terror Nexus 2024-09-11T12:00:00 Book Chapter
Terrorist Threats and Police Performance: A Study of Israeli Communities 2009-11-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
The DNI's Open Source Center: An Organizational Communication Perspective 2007-02-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
The Nature of the Beast: Organizational Structures and the Lethality of Terrorist Attacks 2008-04-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
The Palestinian Quest for Significance and Hamas Violence 2023-11-15T12:00:00 Journal Article
The Rise of Political Islam in Kazakhstan: Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami 2007-02-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
The Security Dimension of Pakistan's Floods 2010-09-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
The Softest of Targets: A Study on Terrorist Target Selection 2009-07-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
The thin red line 2013-03-01T12:00:00 Op-ed
Theory of an Emerging-State Actor: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Case † 2018-05-18T12:00:00 Journal Article
Trends and Characteristics of Terrorist Attacks Against Nightclub Venues Over 5 Decades 2024-01-30T12:00:00 Journal Article
Understanding Law Enforcement Intelligence Processes 2014-07-01T12:00:00 START Reports
Understanding Tornado Warnings, False Alarms, and Complacency 2016-09-01T12:00:00 Fact Sheet
Understanding what violent street crime, globalization, and ice cream have in common 2025-01-29T12:00:00 Journal Article
Vulnerability of U.S. Cities to Environmental Hazards 2007-06-01T12:00:00 Journal Article
What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism 2024-01-04T12:00:00 Journal Article
Title Job Title Institution
Adam martin Adam Martin Software Developer, Vexterra Group
Amy Pate Amy Pate START Acting Director University of Maryland
Koven Barnett S. Koven Data Science Manager, Deloitte Government & Public Services
McCauley_Clark Clark McCauley Professor of Psychology Bryn Mawr College
Egle Egle Murauskaite Senior Researcher & Simulation Developer, ICONS Project, START University of Maryland
Gary Ackerman Gary Ackerman Associate Professor, SUNY Albany University at Albany, State University of New York
Tinsley_Herbert Herbert Tinsley Analyst, Government Accountability Office
Sawyer John John Sawyer Director of Strategic Corporate Research Relationships University of Maryland
Jacome_Michlle Michelle Jacome Operations Officer on International Finance Cooperation at the World Bank
person-default Nathan Meehan Director of Research and Development, Second Sight Training Systems, LLC Second Sight Training Systems, LLC
person-default Rhyner Washburn Research Affiliate University of Maryland
Salma_Bouziani Salma Bouziani Project Manager/Researcher, START University of Maryland
Henkin Samuel D. Henkin Geospatial Research Unit (GRU) Researcher, START University of Maryland
Steve S. Sin Steve S. Sin, Ph.D. Associate Research Scientist & Director, Unconventional & Asymmetric Threats Division
Adjunct Professorial Lecturer, School of International Service, American University
Adjunct Instructor for Forensic Sciences, Oklahoma State University
Chief Academic Officer, Platinum East 		University of Maryland
Guarrieri Thomas Guarrieri Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies
Assistant Research Scientist, Unconventional Weapons &
Technology (UWT) Division, START 		University of Maryland
Clark tyler Tyler A. Clark Data Scientist, Doctoral Student University of Maryland
Asal_Victor Victor Asal Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of Public Administration University at Albany, State University of New York
Abbreviation Thumbnail Image Title Direct Link
A Climate of Terror: Approaches to the Study of Climate Change and Terrorism
A Comparative Study of Violent Extremism and Gangs
A Toolkit for Preventing Targeted Violence on College Campuses
Anatomizing Radiological and Nuclear Non-State Adversaries
Anatomizing the Behavior of Chemical and Biological Non-State Adversaries
Behavioral Assessments Based on Automated Text Analyses
BAAD Big Allied and Dangerous (BAAD) Database 1 - Lethality Data, 1998-2005 Go
Biosecurity in the Americas: Research, Practitioner Education/Training and Transition
Border Crossings and Terrorist Attacks in the United States: Lessons for Protecting Against Dangerous Entrants
Bridging Partisan Division over Anti-Terrorism Policies: The Role of Threat Perceptions Go
Bridging Religious Communities and Technology Providers to Counter Narratives of Violent Extremism
Climate Change and Terrorism: A Call to Action
Climate Security, Great Power Competition, and Adversarial Geopolitics in Southeast Asia
Country Reports on Terrorism - Statistical Annex
Developing Integrated Radiological and Nuclear Detection Architecture for the Interior and International Mission Space
Dissuading Adversaries and their Radiological/Nuclear Pathways: Integrating Deterrence Theory and Analytics in the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA)
Domestic Weapons of Mass Destruction: Populations at Risk from U.S. Chemical Facilities Releases
European Converts to Islam: An Evolving Threat?
Global Terrorism Database (GTD)
Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Acceleration
Insider Threat for Inbound International Air Cargo
Integration of International Architecture Analysis
International and Regional Architecture Reports
New Analytical Methods for the Exploitation of Open-Source Structured Databases to Enhance Situational Awareness for Effective Counter-WMD Strategies
Opportunities for Public-Private Partnership in Countering Online Extremism and Recruitment
Organized and/or Transnational Crime/Drug Cartel Nexus with Illicit Radiological/Nuclear Trade, Smuggling and/or Terrorism in Europe and North, Sahelian and West Africa
Population Vulnerability Analysis, Spatial Social Science, and GIS
PRND Capability Development Framework Mapping
Profiling the CB Adversary: Motivation, Psychology and Decision
Program to Prepare Communities for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks
Radiological/Nuclear Adversaries Future Project
Rehabilitation and Reintegration for CVE Programs
Replication Data for: "Crime, Conflict and the Legitimacy Tradeoff: Explaining Variation in Insurgents' Participation in Crime" Go
Resources and Resilience: A Computational Model of Strategic Influence
SoVI Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) Go
Terrorism and Targeted Violence in the United States
Terrorist Groups and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) Process
Validating Models of Adversary Behavior
Where the Extremes May Touch: The Potential for Collaboration Between Islamist, Right- and Left-Wing Extremists