Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat

Terrorism expert Simon (The Terrorist Trap) explores the potential threat posed by a single person, or "lone wolf," in this unsettling look into how the current political and technological landscape has radicalized and empowered dangerous individuals. Defining "terrorism" is difficult%E2%80%94the U.S. State Department's definition is fluid, underscoring "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatants" without directly addressing the hazard of lone wolves like Timothy McVeigh; Anders Breivik, the Norwegian who killed 77 people in and around Oslo; and Nidal Malik Hasan, who opened fire at Fort Hood and killed 13 people. Simon explains that since the late 1880s, terrorism has come in distinct waves: the anarchist, the anti-colonial, the New Left, the religious, and now, overlapping with its predecessor, the technological. The author stresses the importance of the Internet, which has allowed radical outliers to participate in extremist communities via chat rooms, forums, and message boards, but Simon doesn't peg technology as merely an accessory to crime%E2%80%94he lays out several technological tactics to apprehend lone wolves, from increasing CCTV surveillance to investing in the study of biometrics. There's little to take comfort in, but Simon does a fine job separating unfounded fears from true threats. Photos. Agent: Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Feb.)