A group of students standing with Neil Shortland outside of the Department of Homeland Security’s P2P: Challenging Extremism competition.
Advised by Asst. Prof. Neil Shortland (left,) director of the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies, our students placed in the top three—twice—in the Department of Homeland Security’s P2P: Challenging Extremism competition.

The Center for Terrorism and Security Studies is a multidisciplinary center focused on research, education and training related to domestic and international security. Here are some of our newest projects in the center and in transnational crime.

Research Highlights

Biological and psychological effects of extremist propaganda and counter-messaging strategies on different personality types. 
Neil Shortland, Arie Perliger, Jill Portnoy and Thomas Gordon (psychology): $794,000, Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative.

Operation250: Develop and evaluate the effectiveness of online safety training in countering extremist messaging aimed at children and young people.
Op250 began as an award-winning Department of Homeland Security P2P student project to counter terrorist recruitment.
Neil Shortland, Jason Rydberg, Tyler Cote ’17 and others: $1 million, U.S. Department of Justice.

Comprehensive far-right extremism database with more than 5,000 documented attacks by groups and individuals in the United States.
Arie Perliger and team.

Estimating the prevalence of forced labor and labor trafficking among child and adult workers in the Vietnamese apparel industry, and the incidence of Vietnamese adult laborer migration to Japan and Taiwan.
Sheldon Zhang and others: $871,000, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery.

Trafficking of migrant laborers in San Diego County: looking for a hidden population.
Sheldon Zhang and others: $522,000, National Institute of Justice.

The effects of third-party intervention in civil wars and terrorism.
Christopher Linebarger: new faculty support.

James Forest Headshot

Prof. James Forest is the author of 20 books and dozens of articles on terrorism and counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, crime and influence warfare. He is also co-editor of the international journal Perspectives on Terrorism, and a senior fellow with the U.S. Joint Special Operations University. He previously served nine years on the faculty of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, including as an assistant dean and as director of Terrorism Studies, and has testified as an expert witness in terrorism-related court cases and committee hearings of the U.S. Senate.