Global Terrorism Threat Assessment 2025

Alexander Palmer is a fellow in the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, he worked in Afghanistan, where he provided security analysis to humanitarian and UN staff before and after the withdrawal of international military forces in August 2021. He holds a master in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.Riley McCabe is an associate fellow in the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at CSIS. He has previously supported the research of the intelligence fellow, the fellow for future war, gaming, and strategy, and the Risk and Foresight Group at CSIS. Riley holds a BA from Occidental College in diplomacy and world affairs.Daniel Byman is the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at CSIS. He is also a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and director of the Security Studies Program. In addition to serving as the vice dean for the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, he was previously a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and a professional staff member with both the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States (9-11 Commission) and the Joint 9/11 Inquiry Staff of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. He formerly served as research director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation and as a Middle East analyst for the U.S. intelligence community. Dr. Byman is a graduate of Amherst College and received his PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Skyeler Jackson was an intern in the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at CSIS. Skyeler holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in global studies and political science and is pursuing a master’s degree at the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

• Executive SummaryChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: The United StatesChapter 3: The Middle EastChapter 4: AfricaChapter 5: ConclusionAbout the AuthorsEndnotes