← Counterterrorism & Political Violence
The Terror Research Dilemma
Can the social sciences provide any actionable insight into counterterror operations?
- Type
- Thesis
- Year
- 2026
- Domain
- Counterterrorism
- Author
- Andrew Azadan
(U) The claim
Two decades of counterterrorism research has failed to produce reliable insight into what drives individuals to violence, and the failure is structural rather than temporary.
After 9/11 the national security enterprise created an unprecedented demand for counterterrorism knowledge, and policy pushed research into an unchecked expansionary period. More than twenty years later, the social sciences still cannot say clearly what leads radicalized individuals and groups to violence.
“A myriad of competing and untestable models, individual-level personality predictive failures, and chronic statistical problems — residing on top of foundational flaws.”
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