From the Editor
It has been 23 years since 9/11. In our feature article, Edmund Fitton-Brown, who for years coordinated the United Nations’ monitoring of the global jihadi threat, examines the current threat outlook. He writes that “the period since 2017 will likely come to be regarded as one of calm and exceptional security, when CT agencies had a clear upper hand over the threat. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see any means by which that period will be long extended. Instead, we will have to get used to—as we have during previous periods—more frequent and more serious attacks in non-conflict zones. That is why a precipitous disinvestment from CT would be a tragic political mistake in present circumstances.”
Our interview is with Rosalind Nyawira, the former director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre. “We feel a moral obligation to help others come up with proper strategies and start with prevention because that is where everyone should start,” she says, adding that “insulating communities and empowering them is paramount in stemming radicalization.”
Caleb Weiss and Lucas Webber look at the evolving threat posed by the Islamic State’s Somalia branch. They write: “Over the last three years, the Islamic State’s Somalia Province has grown increasingly international, sending money across two continents and recruiting around the globe. There are also growing linkages between the group and international terrorist plots, raising the possibility that Islamic State-Somalia may be seeking to follow in the footsteps of Islamic State Khorasan in going global.”
“On July 16, 2024, Georgian national Mikhail Chkhikvishvili was indicted in the Eastern District of New York on four counts of conspiracy to solicit hate crimes and acts of mass violence. Court filings show Chkhikvishvili was acting on behalf of an organization known as … a violent accelerationist network that originated in Russia and Ukraine,” write Marc-André Argentino, Barrett Gay, and Matt Bastin in their profile of the group. “Chkhikvishvili’s activities demonstrate that … is pursuing alliances with threat actors in the West, including known leaders of RMVE organizations and online criminal networks,” they assess, adding that “evidence shows that … is intent on perpetrating a mass casualty event, with the hopes to do so in the United States.”
Paul Cruickshank, Editor in Chief
