Stern in WSJ on Scale of Terror Attacks
Jessica Stern, Research Professor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, discussed the shift in the strategy of terrorists after the death of Osama Bin Laden. Stern’s interview comes after a weekend that saw three separate attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota that left almost 40 people injured.
Stern was quoted in a September 19, 2016 article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “Bombs in New York and New Jersey, Stabbing Attacks in Minnesota Stoke Unease.”
From the text of the article:
Jessica Stern, a terrorism expert and professor at Boston University, said terrorists have changed their focus since the death of Osama bin Laden and now often work to execute or inspire less sophisticated attacks that are easier to plan and pull off, even if they don’t result in mass casualties.
“The government is worried about this, and it’s hard to stop self-radicalized individuals because there aren’t a lot of communications to intercept,” she said. “It’s a lot harder to carry out a 9/11-style attack now, but it’s in some ways this kind of less sophisticated attack that nearly anyone can carry out is something we can expect going forward.”
You can read the entire article here.
Stern’s main focus is on perpetrators of violence and the possible connections between trauma and terror. She has written on terrorist groups across religions and ideologies, among them neo-Nazis, Islamists, anarchists, and white supremacists. She has also written about counter-radicalization programs for both neo-Nazi and Islamist terrorists. Learn more about her here.