Jacob Ware
@jacobware
Studying terrorism and extremism. Opinions are my own and RT ≠ endorsement.
My recent Soufan Center report examines the dynamics shaping youth radicalization and offers measures states can consider going forward. But this is rapidly becoming an all-hands-on-deck emergency. Incremental counter-measures will be insufficient. thesoufancenter.org/research/com...
A perfect encapsulation of our counterterrorism landscape. As @colinpclarke.bsky.social worries about the administration’s focus on “left-wing” terrorism, @seamushughes.bsky.social breaks news of a far-right plot threatening “Death to all liberals and Democrats obsessed with destroying America.”
Yet one cannot tell the story of our founding without referencing these scars. As Ida B. Wells put it, “It becomes a painful duty … to reproduce a record which shows that a large portion of the American people avow anarchy, condone murder and defy the contempt of civilization.”
Several of the ringleaders went on to successful political careers. As one deep-dive into the attacks writes, “Not in spite of the white Carolinians’ participation in the murder of six black men, but because of it, they won election to political offices.” www.proquest.com/docview/1864...
"In the Trump era, longstanding American anti-government extremist (AGE) actors have tamed their militant activism, often falling in line with federal government policies instead." icct.nl/publication/...
As Neumann concludes, "These developments fundamentally challenge long-standing understandings of terrorism," forcing either a broadening of our concepts or new frameworks to capture such violence. In other words, a fascinating moment in our field. pt.icct.nl/article/new-...
If I may: I think there's overlap between "grey zone" theory and my suggestion in @gwupoe.bsky.social that we may be witnessing a fourth generation of online radicalization. Whatever you call it, the trends are clear: younger extremists, hybrid ideologies, personal grievances, lone actors.
Finally found time to read Peter R. Neumann's brilliant Perspectives on Terrorism research note on the "grey zone" of terrorism: "terrorist-type violence ... driven primarily by psychological vulnerabilities, developmental issues, and deeply held personal grievances." pt.icct.nl/article/new-...
«Un análisis lúcido y sin concesiones del fanatismo de extrema derecha que lleva tiempo gestándose en Estados Unidos y que ahora ha florecido». edicioneslatormenta.com/producto/dio...
Fue un gran honor unirme a nuestro brillante prologuista @mldemiguel.bsky.social y al incomparable equipo de Ediciones La Tormenta en Madrid para debatir sobre las conclusiones de nuestro libro Dios, armas y sedición. ¡Una ciudad preciosa y un público fantástico! 🇪🇸
As a reminder, I recently released a long report on youth radicalization for the Soufan Center. It’s an enormously challenging issue — an era-defining, existential terrorism threat that cannot simply be ignored.
NEW: Delighted to provide a review of Simon Ball's excellent @yalepress.bsky.social book — Death to Order — for @lawfaremedia.org. Compellingly, Ball finds that assassinations have typically served as irritations, not existential threats to democracy. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/assa...
Great work by @jason-blazakis.bsky.social in @justsecurity.org, outlining the use of counterterrorism framing to justify war in #Cuba. I would only add that taking a violent approach in Cuba—a country with long histories of both irregular warfare and state support—seems particularly foolish.
In the face of youth radicalization, law enforcement and intelligence agencies must radically reconceptualize their understanding of violent extremist ideology and targeting. thesoufancenter.org/research/com...
Youth radicalization is clearly a growing problem. But concerningly, cases also appear to be trending younger. Terrorism arrests involving children between the ages of 8 and 12 are now common. For more, see my latest analysis for The Soufan Center: thesoufancenter.org/research/com...
For The Soufan Center: Among young extremists, an “incel effect” or “school shooter effect” is at play, where sexual frustration often meshes smoothly with ideologies emphasizing white/male victimhood. A dynamic tragically unfolding this week in San Diego. thesoufancenter.org/research/com...
Mr. Axelrod is spot on. According to @perilresearch.bsky.social, @everytown.org (where I serve as Survivor Fellow), and @splcenter.org, "Approx. 25% of youth have experienced an active shooter lockdown." Gun violence is an epidemic for our children. The survivors in San Diego will never be the same.
In its most recent "Murder and Extremism in the US" report, released in Feb '25, the #ADL found that "The trend in recent years has been for the great majority of extremist-related murders to be connected to ... right-wing extremism." The US government cannot ignore this threat.
According to Ukraine's SBU, recruitment appeals included "punishing the guilty" who may have tormented them at school. Particularly interesting given that Russia has previously designated the "Columbine movement" as a terrorist group. ssu.gov.ua/novyny/sbu-i...
Additionally, the CT strategy repeats the 2025 National Security Strategy's odd focus on Europe's "civilizational erasure," writing that "unfettered mass migration" is leading to "willful decline" and immature counterterrorism. It's available here: justthenews.com/sites/defaul...
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's no mention of far-right terrorism (neither white supremacist nor anti-government) in the Trump administration’s new national counterterrorism strategy. Instead, the domestic focus is on "violent left-wing extremists" and "cartels and gangs."
American soft power: “The one thing the Europeans have understood is that we are dealing with a bully. You can give him everything he wants […] but he will keep trying to bully us, and so at a certain point we must stop him.” @yarotrof.bsky.social www.wsj.com/world/allies...
Pretty stunning reporting by @juliaioffe.bsky.social in @puck.news. The damage to U.S. global counterterrorism leadership will be profound and lasting.
Today marks one year since the greatest day in my professional career. Still an immense and surreal honor. "The winner of the fifth Airey Neave Book Prize is God, Guns and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America by @hoffmanbruce.bsky.social and Jacob Ware (@columbiaup.bsky.social, 2024)."
"A NJOHSP review of open-source NVE incidents in 2025 revealed that a majority of NVE suspects were between the ages of 18 and 29. These subjects primarily target their victims on mainstream and gaming platforms to discuss ideology or post threats and solicit/share CSAM."
"Ban Guns: Make The Street Safe For A Government Takeover," read a bumper sticker sold by Timothy McVeigh near Waco in 1993. It's a historical counterfactual, but I wonder how McVeigh would have responded to Trump claiming after Alex Pretti's killing that "You can't have guns."
For what it's worth, here's how Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh viewed law enforcement before his 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building: "For all intents and purposes, federal agents had become 'soldiers.'" (McVeigh's Apr. 26 Letter to Fox News, 2001)