Roots and Trajectories of Violent Extremism and Terrorism

During the past 25 years, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences, have carried out a wide variety of activities to improve understanding of the challenges in containing and reducing ethnic conflicts, violent extremism, and terrorism. Roots and Trajectories of Violent Extremism and Terrorism provides an overview of this cross-ocean program, which has involved American and Russian scientists, engineers, and medical professionals from a large number of government agencies, leading research institutions, think tanks, educational institutions, analytical centers, and consulting and commercial firms in the two countries. This report highlights challenges addressed by the academies over many years that remain of current interest as the U.S., Russian, and other governments continue to cope with old and new forms of aggression that threaten the livelihood of populations at home and abroad.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Introduction and Acknowledgments
1 Ethnic Conflicts within Russia
2 Acceptable Limits on Biological Research
3 Radiological Challenges: Security, Sources, Waste Sites, and Disposal
4 Security of Transportation, Industrial, Construction, Communications, and Other Urban Challenges
5 Interests in the Middle East and Beyond
6 Continuing Inter-Academy Cooperation in a Changing World
Appendix A: The Kona Statement
Appendix B: Characteristics of Early Ethnic Monitoring Network in Russia and Beyond
Appendix C: Lessons Learned from a Terrorist Attack in a Moscow Theater (Yevgeny Kolesnikov)
Appendix D: Terrorist Attack at a School in the North Caucasus (Gennady Kovalenko)
Appendix E: New Trends in Monitoring Multiethnic Russia (Valery Tishkov)
Appendix F: Final Stages in Disposition of Radioactive Waste (Vladislav A. Petrov)
Appendix G: Far-Right Domestic Extremism (James Halverson)
Appendix H: Psychology of Transnational Terrorism and Extreme Political Conflict (Scott Atran)
Appendix I: Recent Trends and Future Concerns in Worldwide Terrorism (Gary LaFree)
Appendix J: Labor Migration and Radicalism (Vitaly Naumkin)
Appendix K: References