Five Key Considerations on Terrorism and Political Violence
by Ishaan Reyna
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09.29.2025 at 06:00am
Five Key Considerations on Terrorism and Political Violence Image
Abstract
The evolving threat of terrorism and political violence in the United States cannot be understood without observing technological change, institutional memory, and societal resilience. Recent discussions underscore five urgent considerations: (1) sustaining lessons from two decades of counterterrorism, (2) preparing for AI and drone-enabled battlefields, (3) confronting the misuse of commercial technologies, (4) maximizing open-source intelligence collaboration, and (5) analyzing the connection between counternarcotics and counterterrorism. Across all five lies a central truth: adversaries exploit division, while unity across government, private sector, and civil society is America’s most credible form of deterrence.
Introduction
Terrorism and political violence are not relics of the post-9/11 era; rather, they are evolving phenomena shaped by rapidly developing technology, shifting geopolitics, and domestic vulnerability. At The Soufan Center’s recent Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence, leaders from government, private sector, academia, and civil society underscored a recurring theme: adversaries thrive on fragmentation, whether in our institutions, our politics, or our digital ecosystems. What follows are five key considerations that when taken together, reveal both the complexity of today’s threat landscape and the urgency of unification across sectors of American society.
These are not just academic insights, they are warnings about how the democratization of violence, the misuse of everyday technologies, and the blurring of terrorism with criminal enterprises threatens to outpace current security frameworks. Analysis from the discussions held at the Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence point to a clear conclusion: unless the United States integrates lessons from past campaigns, adapts to emerging technologies, and strengthens trusted partnerships, it risks ceding strategic advantage to agile non-state actors.
1. Carrying Lessons Forward
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/09/29/five-key-considerations-on-terrorism-and-political-violence/
