Terrorism in Perspective

Abstract

The next American president will encounter a landscape with regard to terrorism, and specifically violent Islamist extremism, that is challenging and also much changed from eight years ago, when President Obama took office. The changes relate to failed and failing states in the Middle East and surrounding region, the terrorist organizations themselves, how the United States has dealt with the problem of terrorism, and how the problem has manifested in Europe. Even if the United States and its allies continue to retake territory from Daesh (or ISIS) and are able to disrupt other terrorist organizations, the problems of violent Islamist extremism and the societal and demographic conditions that enable it will persist. This volume seeks to define the problem and set it in context, and to offer some paths and priorities for the next president and her or his administration, including in the emerging and promising field of countering violent extremism (CVE).