The International Center for Terrorism Studies (ICTS) integrates traditional terrorism research with new and innovative approaches that explore terrorism-adjacent activities to counter 21st century threats. Our dedicated staff and extensive network of experts examine current trends, anticipate future terrorism, and collaborate with researchers as well as practitioners to identify detection, mitigation, and reduction strategies. Using multidisciplinary, independent, data-driven research, ICTS forms a channel and educates policymakers, practitioners, and the public on the nature and intensity of terrorism in the 21st century.

Research Themes

The mission of the ICTS is to: (1) monitor and study current as well as future tactics, techniques, and procedures that contribute to threats of terrorism; (2) develop counterterrorism response strategies on governmental and non-governmental levels; (3) collaborate with policymakers, academic institutions, business, media, and civic organizations; (4) sponsor research programs on critical issues in counterterrorism and terrorism-adjacent phenomena, and (5) share findings on both the national and international levels. Our data-driven projects are especially attuned to challenges in the terrorism and counterterrorism field including data access, quality, use of AI, and proper measurements of terrorist and terrorist-related phenomenon.

The ICTS program brings stakeholders together to facilitate conversations on current and future terrorist trends between subject-matter experts, government officials, researchers, and policymakers. Our work spans a number of issue areas, including:

Advancing Data Standards and Analytics by merging Department of Defense and Academic Research

Hybrid Warfare, Regional Violent Conflicts, and State-Sponsored Terrorism

Counterterrorism Financing and Anti-Money Laundering

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (AI/Cybersecurity/CBRNEs)

Foreign and Domestic Violent Extremism and Radicalization

Legacy of Yonah Alexander

The ICTS was established in 1998 by Dr. Yonah Alexander to educate policymakers, practitioners, and the public on the nature and intensity of the terrorism threat in the 21st century. The ICTS and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies were among the first to publish a profile warning of Usama bin Laden’s al-Qaida Terrorist Network in February 2001. Over the past 27 years, the ICTS has sponsored and participated in hundreds of articles, reports, seminars, briefings, and conferences around the world. Previous ICTS project affiliates include the FBI, Department of Justice, Bureau of Counterterrorism Department of State, U.S. National Security Council, UN, and NATO. Our consortium of multidisciplinary researchers and practitioners has continued to exhibit a deep understanding of violent nonstate actors through fieldwork and open-source data collection, analysis, and visualization.

In Memoriam Yonah Alexander