The ten myths on “lone wolf” terrorism

 

Saud Alsharafat    Ph.D

Founder and Director of Shorufat Center for Globalization and Terrorism Studies. Amman-Jordan

Saud_shar@yahoo.com

info@shorufatcenter.com  

https://twitter.com/SharafatSaud

 

 

Abstract

This article draws from extensive empirical studies, aims to emphasize that the” lone wolf” terrorism in general is no longer a myth. It is (Logos) a reality; and a new field in studying the phenomenon of terrorism, but the actors’ behavior itself is the myth. The article  summarizes findings in ten myths that are questioned by the empiric studies, which are: 1- The myth that lone wolf suffer from psychological problems.2-The myth that the majority of lone wolf are unemployed 3-The myth of illiteracy and that they are uneducated. 4-The myth of the ideology.5- The myth of social isolation.6- Myth of surprise, improvisation, and recklessness.7- Myth of lack of practical experience.8-The myth that they are ordinary people, peaceful, innocent; and without criminal backgrounds.9- The myth of moderation and non-religious.10-The myth of Secret Operation.

Keyword: Terrorism; Lone Wolf Terrorism; Right Wing Terrorism.

 Background

Terrorism is a complex and controversial global phenomenon, so there is no universal agreement on the definition of terrorism (^[1]).

According to me “Terrorism is the deliberate use of violence which conducts by non-state actor, aimed against civilians in order to achieve political goals”.

The “Lone Wolf” terrorism is a growing phenomenon that transcends cultures, religions and ideologies. I meant by’ Lone Wolf’ individuals undertaking violent acts of terrorism outside a command structure.

Lone Wolf” terrorism is not new. In 2001, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called for individuals to attack Jews and Americans with knives, Molotov cocktails, or other homemade devices. But only since the rise of the Islamic State (IS) has the lone wolf phenomenon entered the mainstream as a terrorism model”. (^[2])

The first present use of this term dates back to 1990, when it was first invented and used by the American Thomas Linton Metzger, the leader of the extremist group known in USA as the White Aryan Resistance in Indiana (which is part of the “White Aryan Nation), a new-Nazi group with links to the extreme Ku Klux Klan group, which also calls for Aryan supremacy. It is classified in the American terrorism literature review under a general term “Right Wing Terrorism “.

“Right Wing terrorism” is terrorism motivated by a variety of ideologies and beliefs, including neo-Nazism neo-fascism anti-communism, and Islamophobia.it is rather” hard to definene, and actually there are over 20 different “definitions” that have been used to describe “right wing terrorism”. The reason it is so hard to definene is because Right Wing terrorist groups have many different goals and ideologies. They’re highly political, trying to reduce the role of the government or dealing with social issues, such as abortion and gun control. Their focus is often to protect the status quo of society. In this sense then, extreme right-wing groups are often opposed to change” (^[3]).This “violent ideology killed more Americans than ISIS in the last decade”(^[4]).

On his personal page on the Internet , Metzger twittered to arms entitled “Laws for Lone Wolf”(^[5]) and called on his followers to work as individual combatants, in strict secrecy, to avoid surveillance by the security services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on domestic terrorism in America against government and other targets. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has described the actions carried out by members of the group since the beginning of 1990 to 1998 as “lone wolf operations” *(^[6]). especially those associated with one of the most important followers of Metzger and the right wing, Alexander James Curtis, who was pursued by the American authorities until his trial in 2000.

There are some writings date back to 1925 as the beginning of the emergence of the term and was linked to the crime, not terrorism at the time, according to an article published in the New York Times in April 1925 (3).The use of the term had developed by the right wing in the USA. In 1983, Louis Ray Beam, an important white nationalist and Christian Identity, had a great influence on the radical right in the post-Vietnam War, publishing what so called Manifesto “leaderless resistance”. He told his followers that “that only a movement based on “very small or even one-man cells of resistance could combat the most powerful government on earth”. (4)”

Then, since the late 1990s, the use of the term has become more widespread, especially in the well-known American press and media. For example, the New York Times (August 16, 1999), one year after the publication of FBI information “The Lone Wolf’ Operations,” published an important article entitled “The New Face of Terrorism Crimes” “Lone Wolf” feed on hatred since that date it has been observed that the use of the term was longer used by the right-wing groups and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to the wider use of media and research (7).

Mark Ham and Ramon Spaaij argue that lone wolf studies were not of a common interest. They said that ” out of 1,649 published reports on terrorism compiled by the US Congressional Research Service before 2015, there were only 10 reports on lone wolf’ terrorism, and complained that the FBI, which is specializing in lone wolf, does not publish or issue any reports for the public (8).

In order to give an example of the widespread use of the term we point out that between 2009-2012 the term of lone wolf appeared in 300 articles per year in the important English publishing agencies, and after the attacks of London in 2017 exceeded the total number of the previous years to 1000 times according to scientific quotation engine. There are many books, articles, official reports, discussion and listening sessions, in addition to special American Masters and PhDs on the term now (9).

For example, a single search on the Google search for the title “Daesh (ISIS) and Lone Wolf Terrorism” in English offers us 166,000 results (until 6 pm Jordan time March 25, 2018). If we look for the same title in Arabic Language, the number of search results is (15200) results.

A number of contemporary Western researchers and experts claim that this phenomenon of terrorism has taken its momentum in the present era of globalization, after the wave of extremism and terrorism of an Islamic pattern, especially in the West, and that the term has been used loosely, inaccurately and close to romance (10).

The American Professor Mark Ham’s and Australian sociologist Ramon Spaaij’s study (funded by the US Department of Justice), which dealt with 200 lone wolf operations in America from 1940 to 2016 (11), are the best books on the lone wolf phenomenon – I think – it adds a qualitative value to the phenomenon, either in the USA or any elsewhere, especially in the field of empiricism and behavior of lone wolf (12).

The reality of contemporary phenomenon

The phenomenon of “lone wolf” is now a phenomenon that transcends ideologies and religions; after it has been a sub-trend in the phenomenon of terrorism in general since the last decade. It is linked and has a direct and strong relationship to the process of globalization and its technological and cultural mechanism.

­­­­It has also become a very dangerous phenomenon, especially after the emergence of al-Qaeda and the global attention to the phenomenon of terrorism and the brutal organization of Daesh after 2014.

This phenomenon has spread in the era of contemporary globalization because Al Qaeda and Daesh since 2011; followed with Daesh, used the process of globalization and technological mechanisms which stimulated and called for open war on all enemies without resorting leadership’s orders, even if acts were not attributed to them under the name of lone wolf.

Some researchers believe that lone wolf terrorism is the “fifth wave” of global terrorism; or “the number one enemy in the world” (13)

The famous American professor David Charles Rapoport(14) four wave theory of modern terrorism  argues that” since 1880s terrorism have been witnessing four waves (each stage lasting about 40 years): anarchist, colonial, left-revolutionary and Islamist, which was believed to have started in 1979, which means that the fifth wave may begin in 2019 (15)

This characterization has raised a debate among Western researchers about the shape and nature of this direction. Some researchers such as Anthony N. Celso (16) believe that lone wolf represent the terrorism of the fifth wave. However, (Jeffrey D. Simon and Jerrold Post) argue that the lone wolf represent the fifth wave utilizing from the mechanisms of technological globalization, especially the Internet (17)

Despite this controversy, the researcher of the phenomenon can note that even before the attacks of September 11, 2001 against the USA, this type of terrorism was one of the subjects that did not receive much attention by the security services and intelligence in the world. The attention of these agencies is focused on monitoring and following up groups known terrorist organizations, although the activities and movements of some sources of lone wolf – specifically in USA- of the right wing- and armed militia groups have been closely monitored by the security services, especially the FBI, from an early date.

The largest and the most dangerous operations in USA and in the history of this phenomenon is the process of the lone wolf Timothy McVeigh (19-March 1995), which claimed the lives of 168 persons and left 680 people wounded

The aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the widespread response and the overwhelming force of the US war against terrorism, which ended with the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the occupation of Iraq in 2003 and broad international cooperation against terrorism, have greatly reduced terrorist operations by non-state actors such as known terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. But this situation did not last long

On July 22, 2011, the world was exposed to the most important and most dangerous operations of lone wolf. This time in Norway, the world’s safest country and refugee paradise, when the right-wing Andres Behring Breivik, who is associated with extremist European groups through social media such as the “English Defense League”, killed 77 and wounded 319 people with different racial motives (18)

We note during this period that this type of terrorism was taking the pattern of extreme nationalist terrorism, and then continued the series of brutality until the point that reached a significant turning point with the emergence of terrorist organization Daesh from the beginning of 2014, even though there were some operations attributed to Al Qaeda before that history like the operation of Nidal Malik Hassan, the US Army Major at the Ford Hood, Texas, in 2009, in which 13 people were killed and 32 injured, before the terrorist came from a solid Afghan-linked organization, 49 people were killed and 53 were injured at a nightclub in Orlando May 12, 2016, which is classified as the most important wolf operations in the American history so far

The available quantitative data indicate that the total number of lone wolf according to (Ramon Spaaij, 2012) reached 88 acts in 15 European countries and in the United States during the period 1968-2010 and carried out a total of 198 attacks. The study also indicates that the rate of terrorist attacks was 5 operations annually

Also the proportion of lone wolf terrorism is a small percentage when compared to the total number of total terrorist attacks during the period 1968-2010, which amounted to 1.8%, carried out by the( right wing of 17%), (Islamist’s 15%),( single issues 8%),( nationalists (7%) (19

According to the” Global Terrorism Index” issued annually by the Institute of Economics and Peace, between 2008 and 2017, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, which includes 34 countries (with the exception of Israel and Turkey, are statistically), were exposed to a total of 250 terrorist attacks lone wolf (the Index uses the term “lone actor terrorism” rather than lone-wolf terrorism). The countries have witnessed an upward trend in the number of lone wolf over the past decade. The number of operations in 2008 has changed from one country to another. While the number of operations in 2008 was only one, and then jumped to 58 during the first half of 2017(20)

The number of lone wolf has been increasing steadily for three decades in the United States and is more prevalent than in other countries in Europe and Australia (21)

I think the reason is that it is the bastion of the religious and ultra-nationalist right that has spread throughout Europe with the spread of Islamophobia and extreme nationalism

The United States was the most vulnerable to terrorist attacks by 81 operations, which accounted for 32% of the total number of operations in the OECD countries, leaving 177 deaths, an increase of 79 deaths over the 1996-2006 period of 156 deaths

The UK ranked the second with 47 operations, leaving 69 dead. Also, there are five countries have seen more than 10 operations over the past decade, respectively: the USA, the UK, France, Germany and Belgium (22).

?Myth or Reality

The phenomenon of lone wolf terrorism is not a typology dilemma, as some researcher’s

Argues” that the “lone wolf” typology should be fundamentally reconsidered” (23)

 The phenomenon of lone wolf terrorism in general isn’t a matter of typology, and no longer a myth. It has become a reality; and a new field in studying the phenomenon of terrorism, but the Actors’ behavior itself is the myth … Why

I think there are ten myths that are denied or questioned by the empiric studies (I will refer to them in detail as much as possible later) on the behavior of the actors in this phenomenon in general and the terrorism of the Islamic lone linked to al-Qaeda, Which are:

1- The myth that lone wolf suffer from psychological problems

2-The myth that the majority of lone wolf is unemployed and the overall percentage of unemployment among them is them is 40%, which is less than the ratio of the unemployed Islamic associates or al-Qaeda, amounting to 30%

 3-The myth of illiteracy and that they are uneducated, while statistics indicate that 36% have university degrees, and 17.3% of lone wolf associated with Islamism or al-Qaeda are university students

4-The myth of the ideology is that they are not all are Muslims since 34% of the operations are linked to the right wing  terrorism in the USA and Europe, Which  killed more Americans than ISIS in the last decade”(24)

5- The myth of social isolation, not all of them are socially isolated

6- Myth of surprise, improvisation, and recklessness; Index state that 50% of operations are arranged and planned in advance. In addition, 11% of them visited the battlefield in Syria prior to carrying out their terrorist operation (25)

7- Myth of lack of practical experience, where Index state that 49% have actual or special military expertise

8-The myth that they are ordinary people, peaceful, innocent; and without criminal backgrounds; while 41% of them have criminal backgrounds. The Global Terrorism Index issued by the Institute for Peace and Development in 2017 indicates 85% out of 80 lone wolf operations affiliates have had a criminal record (26)

It is almost the same percentage as the International Counterterrorism Center (ITC) in The Hague found in its latest report on terrorism, where it was found that 57% of them had a criminal past and had records with the police. Only 8 per cent received direct orders from Daesh ISIS  or another terrorist organization to carry out these operations. The larger proportion, which is 92 per cent, were affected by Daesh ISIS  propaganda, “or” vaguely linked to the organization, or those who acted on their own, inspired by the lesson of terrorists (27)”

9- The myth of moderation and non-religious; 79% were known to their families and friends as being committed to extremist ideologies.

10-The myth of Secret Operation; It was found that 63.9% of the operations were already known by the family and friends of the lone wolf knew he would carry out his terrorist act because he personally told them so.

In addition to these ten myths, an important observation is that the phenomenon has not been taken seriously, especially at the level of official government discourse, which is concerned with the fear of arousing public panic. Although sometimes the product of shock, fear and intimidation from the terror of lone wolf for the purpose of controlling and directing the public opinion, and in political and propaganda campaigns that serve the daily policy of parties and institutions competing or competing, especially in times of elections. Even though former CIA Director Leon Benita and former FBI Director Robert Mueller have pointed to the seriousness of the phenomenon and that it is a major potential threat, especially to US security (28).

It may be noted that a number of researchers (Jytte Klausen, Alexandra Johnson, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Nathinel Barr, Jen Eastrly, Joshua Gltzer) underestimate the phenomenon and sometimes describe it as a “myth” Especially Islamic ones such as Al Qaeda and Daesh, and that there is a rush by journalists, media and researchers to describe terrorist operations, especially those that have been hit in Europe since 2016 as lone wolf (29).

For example, we can refer to the claims of the Danish philosopher and researcher of the origin of Jytte Klausen, whose writing has received a keen interest in the media and the press, including the Arabic language. She*argues that this “dangerous myth must be refuted and avoided the use of the word” alone wolf “«The terrorist attack near the British Parliament on Wednesday (March 22, 2017) in which a man rammed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London, parallels last year’s incidents in Berlin and in Nice where large vehicles were also used to kill crowds of people. In the aftermath of these events, the attackers have been widely called “lone wolves.” This is a myth that must be dispelled. Lone actors they were, but only on the day of the attack”. (30).

More seriously, she argues (and with her, Alexandra Johnson) that these operations in Europe are not lone wolf; they are “insurgent” operations and the transfer of armed insurgent tactics to the streets of Europe? as in the example of Iraq against US forces after 2003. (31).

The rapprochement of terrorism in general as a method or as a subset of conventional warfare, guerrilla or insurgency is old and goes back to the 1990s (32), most notably the writings of Bard E. O’Neill, Director of Middle East studies and insurgency studies and revolution at the National War College in Washington (33). But all these studies affirm the difference between the two phenomena despite the multiple intersections between them (34).

At the same time, the studies stress that the two phenomena are very different, especially in the field of military and security studies in the United States, where terrorism is seen as a different phenomenon from the armed insurgency, although it can be approached militarily as a subset of the phenomenon of armed rebellion (35).

 It is known in these studies that in the study of terrorism, al-Qaeda, Daesh or the Colombian FARC can be cited, but in examples of the armed insurgency there are the Afghan Taliban, the PKK in Turkey and the Maoist Movement in Nepal (36).

 Scholars know the meaning of the term “ insurgent ” (Latin insurgent- (stem of insurgēns) present participle of insurgere to get up, ascend, rebe which dates back to 1755, meaning revolution), which Americans used extensively to describe the resistance of the Iraqi Armed Forces against the American forces after the fall of the Iraqi regime and ended in a tragic way to invade and destroy the city of Fallujah, Iraq after the battle of Fallujah the second in 2004.

I think that the characterization of Klausen and Johnson is extreme and very dangerous.

 It could lead to catastrophic consequences in the counterterrorism field. It eliminates all possibilities for plans and programs of states to absorb, rehabilitate, and integrate regretting terrorists. There is a difference between insurgency tactics and armed-resistance, even by American characterization – and the methods of lone wolf.

The use of methods of resistance and insurgent against lone wolf Terrorism means the transformation of European cities and other countries into battlefields of destruction.

The American scholars and expert Jeffrey D. Simon warned against underestimating the phenomenon of lone wolf, especially the study of the phenomenon as well-organized terrorist groups (as argued by Klausen) because this usually leads to failure and error, especially if it ends with war with large military units, while claiming that fighting lone wolf terrorism is more like Police practices and methods that fight criminal gangs or pursue individual crimes (37).

In the fight against terrorism, some official experts argue that “the terrorism of lone wolf” ended with the existence of ISIS to whom myth building is attributed and it did not release the lone wolf, arguing that the philosophy of organization – any political or social organization – means integrating into the community or the state and not to coup and to work alone (38).

Despite the fact that members or supporters of ISIS have published a booklet on lone wolf terrorism and posted on the Telegram site, with various instructions from how to face arrests, to how to confront the investigation, to security methods (39). I believe that the publication of this booklet, (which is attributed to al-Qaeda, has been developed and updated) does not change the fact that lone wolf operate alone and independently.

I believe that this  approach, which published most of its literature in the Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs Journals, is purely  underestimating the phenomenon and comes within official state and government data to minimize the unforeseeable risks and fears, or control them as the terror of lone wolf.

Some researchers (such as Raffaelo Pantucci) (as some researchers have traced the phenomenon’s genealogist) have also tried to claim that the phenomenon is not recent, and that individual persons have always committed or encouraged acts of terrorism (40).

Perhaps the surge of contemporary research and publishing, especially in USA and European countries in the phenomenon of confirmation, especially as the bulk of this movement dedicated to the terror of lone wolf, Al Qaeda and Daesh.

If that is the case of the study worldwide, then the worst case would be in the Arab world, where it is limited – as far as I know – transient references and seasonal news newscasts of what is published in the international media, especially after any terrorist attack attributed to lone wolf.

This may explain the general complaint by researchers on the lack of literature and research on this phenomenon in the studies of global terrorism before the emergence of al-Qaeda and ISIS (41) (specifically in Arab and Islamic world, and focus on the behavioral side of the phenomenon, as in a number of studies (Chermak SM, Freilich JD, Simone J.2010, Kaplan J. 1997, Spaaij R. 2010, Waits C, Shors D. 1999. Michel L, 2001. Willman D. 2011)(42).

The lack of interest in studying the phenomenon of lone wolf may seem to be due to the researchers’ approach to the phenomenon of terrorism itself as “collective, organized and hierarchical work (43) (as in groups and organizations), and did not pay attention to the possibility of individuals carrying out atrocities

Perhaps the worst thing about studies, especially the US one, is that it approaches the issue from the perspective of “positivism” and commensurate with the “Realism Approach” when it looks at the phenomenon as a serious and contagious disease. Depth analysis of the reasons, because it views the problem as a kind of “risk assessment” and “cost analysis” in the narrow economic sense and in the counter-terrorism mechanisms and its rigid protocols, which are usually reflected in the easier and more violent option at the same time; thus risking a shift to state terrorism.

One of the most important studies in this field in the analytical-quantitative study of the phenomenon of lone wolf in North America and Western Europe by” Sarah  Teich”, Researcher at the International Institute for the fight against terrorism during the period 1990-2013, which found that there are five (5) finding trends)(44):

1. Increased number of countries targeted by lone wolf terrorists,
2. Increased number of fatalities and injuries caused by lone wolves,
3. Increased success rate of USA law enforcement to apprehend lone wolves before

they can carry out their attacks.

4. High prevalence and success rate of loners over Raffaelo Pantucci’s other three types of lone wolf terrorists.
5. Increased targeting of military personnel.

Perhaps the first observation on this study – apart from its important results – is that it refutes early myths of myth about the phenomenon, even before the emergence of Daesh ISIS .

 Another quantitative study of very importance; – I refer to some of the figures when talking about the ten dementia to terrorize lone wolf -Paul Gill., John Horgan, and Paige Deckert (45) dealt with 119 cases in America And Western Europe, with an approach that addressed socio-demographic characteristics, not just the behavioral factors that have been addressed in a number of studies. 70% of them were aged between 21-30 years, sex was mostly male (96.6%), work was 40% unemployed, 8% had a doctorate, 6% had a master’s degree, 22% had university degrees or High schools, family status (50% of them single, 24.5% married), family ties 27.7% have children).The behaviors that preceded the implementation of their terrorist operations, where it was found that 20% converted to religion before the implementation of their terrorist acts, and 37.3% of them to al-Qaeda (his daily routine, with others before the implementation of the process, Events that preceded implementation, previous military experiences where it was found that 26% of them have military experience, also 23 per cent of them had actual military experience, and previous criminal and criminal files in detention, arrest or conviction showed that the rate was 41.2%.. As for behavioral and mental health, it was found that 31.9% had psychological problems and disorder, (46).

Do they differ on the basis of their ideological justifications (43% of them were influenced by al-Qaeda and 34% by the extreme right wing). The study reached results (7) are:

1-.There was no uniform profile identified.

2. In the time leading up to most lone-actor terrorist events, other people generally knew about the offender’s grievance, extremist ideology, views, and/or intent to engage in violence.

It has been found that there are very high percentages of knowledge or awareness of the intentions of those who personally expressed or appeared on them; for example, 58.8% of them expressed, either through public statements, in newspapers or slogans about their ideas (but not necessarily the intention to carry out the terrorist act), before to carry out their terrorist acts. 82.4% were known by their surroundings as suffering from injustice, 79% were known for being committed to extremist ideology, and 63.9% of them knew that they would carry out their acts of terror because they personally told them about them. 24% of them had committed partners and families with extremist groups that helped inspire them to carry out their terrorist act.

 This is important in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism, as well as rehabilitation, reintegration and aftercare programs, in terms of the roles that friends and family can play in this area.

3- A wide range of activities and experiences preceded lone actors’ plots or events.

4- Many but not all lone-actor terrorists were socially isolated.

5- Lone-actor terrorists regularly engaged in a detectable and observable range of activities with a wider pressure group, social movement, or terrorist organization

6- Lone-actor terrorist events were rarely sudden and impulsive. This is illustrated by quantitative Indexes showing that 29% of lone wolf performed preconceived drill operations before their implementation, 21% received actual weapons training, and 46% learned through open source. 50% of them were found in their homes and properties by the security services, and published books, pamphlets and instructions on how to manufacture explosives.

7. 7. There were distinguishable behavioral differences between subgroups.

This is shown by tracking the terror of wolf according to the tripartite division of terrorist groups according to the ideological motivations of the movement:

A- The right wing (which is effective in the USA, Western Europe and some Scandinavian countries) and by 34%.

B – Al-Qaeda and its affiliates (because the study did not include the ISIS and others) by 43%.

C- Single issues, by 18%. .Most of this type of operation takes place in the USA, Western Europe and Scandinavia. This raises many questions, the most important of which is that some lone wolf here may be motivated by ideology, ideas and religious convictions, especially in the case of opposition to abortion (47).

I believe that all studies and results-above – prove the seriousness of the phenomenon of lone wolf terrorism, and refute at the same time the myths of superstition and underestimation of the phenomenon and its seriousness on global security in the future.

_____________________________

Notes

 

*- This is the official description of the first mentioning of the term “the lone wolf” under a US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) archive document issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), San Diego, California and its police department, Under the name “The Lone Wolf Operation”, which dates back to November- 1998 and talks about the operations of Alexander James Curtis specifically.

1- Schmid, Alex P. (2011).The Definition of Terrorism. The. Routledge. p. 39.

2-Bruce Hoffman (2017). Lone Wolf: Passing Fad or Terror Threat of the Future? The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/lone-wolf-passing-fad-or-terror-threat-of-the-future.

3- TABLE TALKS, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5809286abe6594e82df59790/t/5901e1d11b10e3a0176eee32/1493295571049/Table-talk-rightwing.pdf.

4- PETER W. SINGER,(2018) .National Security Pros, It’s Time to Talk About Right-Wing Extremism, https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2018/02/national-security-pros-its-time-talk-about-right-wing-extremism/146319/.

⁵ Jason Burke (2017), The long read The myth of the ‘lone wolf’ terrorist,   file:///C:/Users/SA2/Desktop/The%20myth%20of%20the%20%E2%80%98lone%20wolf%E2%80%99%20terrorist%20_%20News%20_%20The%20Guardian.html

⁶  https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/sandiego/about-us/history/operation-lone-wolf 

7- Al-Sharafat, Saud, Globalization and Terrorism: A Flat World or Deep valleys? The Jordanian Dar Ward for Publishing and Distribution Amman, First published, 2011, p. 40

8- Jason Burke (2017).

⁹– JO, THOMAS (1999), New Face of Terror Crimes: ‘Lone Wolf’ Weaned on Hate, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/16/us/new-face-of-terror-crimes-lone-wolf-weaned-on-hate.html.

10-Hamm, M., Spaaij, R. (2017). Identifying Commonalities among Lone Wolf Terrorists. In The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism (pp. 13-22). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/hamm18174.5.

¹¹– Jason Burke (2017).

¹²– Greta E. Marlatt.(2016)( Compiled (Lone Wolf Terrorism – A Brief Bibliography, Created September 2013, Last Updated May 30, 2016, This compilation was prepared by the Homeland Security Digital Library, Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security

A number of studies, articles, masters and doctoral dissertations on the subject can be reviewed here.

file:///C:/Users/SA2/Downloads/727224%20(1).pdf. 

¹³– Matthew Feldman, The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism, by Mark S. Hamm and Ramón Spaaij, June 15, 2017

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/review-the-age-of-lone-wolf-terrorism-mark-s-hamm-and-ramon-spaaij-columbia-university-pres

^14-Mark S. Hamm and Ramon Spaaij (2015) Lone Wolf Terrorism in America: Using Knowledge of Radicalization Pathways to Forge Prevention Strategies, This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248691.pdf

¹⁵–ibid

^16–JAY WEAVER AND DAVID OVALLE,(2016) Terror enemy No. 1: Lone wolves like Orlando killer Omar Mateen, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article83819372.html.

¹⁷– Rod Lyon and Stephanie Huang,(2015) Fifth wave terrorism: have predictions jumped the gun? https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/fifth-wave-terrorism-have-predictions-jumped-the-gun/.

¹⁸– David Charles Rapoport, “The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism” in John Horgan and Kurt Braddock (eds), Terrorism Studies: A Reader (Routledge: New York, 2012).

¹⁹– Anthony N. Celso, (2014) the Islamic State and Boko Haram: Fifth Wave Jihadist Terror Groups. https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2014/Jeffery%20Kaplan%205th%20Wav%20e%20of%20Terror%20and%20Islamist%20Terror%20Movements_0.pdf.

²⁰– Rod Lyon and Stephanie Huang (2015).

²¹– Jason Burke (2017).

²²-DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS,(2014) WHAT DOES THE RECENT SPATE OF LONE WOLF TERRORIST ATTACKS MEAN?, https://warontherocks.com/2014/10/what-does-the-recent-spate-of-lone-wolf-terrorist-attacks-mean/

²³– Ramón Spaaij (2010). The Enigma of Lone Wolf Terrorism: An Assessment, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33:9, 854-870, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2010.501426.

²⁴-The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) GLOBAL TERRORISM INDEX 2017, Characteristics of Terrorists, pp.69-70.

²⁵ – ibid.

26- ibid.

27- Bart Schuurman, Lasse Lindekilde, Stefan Malthaner, Francis O’Connor, Paul Gill & Noémie Bouhana (2018) End of the Lone Wolf: The Typology that Should Not Have Been, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1419554.

28- The European Center for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies (2017) lone Wolves “continues to be the preferred strategy for Daesh,- https://www.europarabct.com

²⁹-Pantucci Raffaello, A Typology of Lone Wolves: Preliminary Analysis of Lone Islamist Terrorists (London: the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, 2011).p.3.39.

30- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Nathaniel Barr(2016), The Myth of Lone-Wolf Terrorism, The Attacks in Europe and Digital Extremism, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/western-europe/2016-07-26/myth-lone-wolf-terrorism.

31- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (2017) LoneWolves No More, The Decline of a Myth, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-kingdom/2017-03-27/lone-wolves-no-more

32-Klausen, Jytte (2017) Why the London Attacker Was No Lone Wolf, Dispelling a Dangerous Myth, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-kingdom/2017-03-24/why-london-attacker-was-no-lone-wolf.

33- Klausen, Jytte, and Johnson, Alexandra (2016) Lone Wolves No More, How ISIS’ European Cells Really Operate. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-03-29/lone-wolves-no-more.

* – Ironically, many of the Arab media and the Arab newspapers, which have been talking about and translating the article Clausen talked about without checking even in her gender. She was referred to masculine form as a man?

³⁴– Ariel Merari (2007) Terrorism as a strategy of insurgency, Terrorism and Political Violence, 5:4, 213-251, DOI: 10.1080/09546559308427227

³⁵– O’Neill, Bard E. (1990(Insurgency and Terrorism: Inside Modern Revolutionary Warfare. Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, Inc. And Bard E. O’Neill (2005) Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse, Second Edition, Revised

^36- Sharafat, Saud.pp41-42 (2011)

³⁷– H. Thomas Hayden (2007), Insurgents vs. Terrorists vs. Guerrillas. https://usiraq.procon.org/sourcefiles/InsurgentsvsTerrorists.pdf.and, Michael F. Morris,(2005) AL-QAEDA AS INSURGENCY, USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT, U.S. Army War College,p1-10.

³⁸– Paul K. Davis, Eric V. Larson, Zachary Haldeman, Mustafa Oguz, Yashodhara Rana(2012), Understanding and Influencing Public Support for Insurgency and Terrorism, RAND National Defense Research Institute http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a562875.pdf.p

39 – JEFFREY D. SIMON (2016) Foreword by Brian Michael Jenkins, Lone Wolf Terrorism

UNDERSTANDING THE GROWING THREAT, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/231007/lone-wolf-terrorism-by-jeffrey-d-simon/9781633882379/.

40- Jen Easterly and  Joshua A. Geltzer (2017) The Islamic State and the End of Lone-Wolf Terrorism, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/23/the-islamic-state-and-the-end-of-lone-wolf-terrorism/.

41 – Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Gilad Shiloach, ISIS Handbook Uncovered: Lone Wolf Terrorism for Dummies Supporters of ISIS have put together a handbook designed to teach aspiring terrorists how to strike. http://www.vocativ.com/293479/isis-fans-present-lone-wolf-terrorism-for-dummies/

42 – Pantucci, Raffaelo. A typology of lone wolves: preliminary analysis of lone Islamist terrorists. Report for the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, 2011.p,2; http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/1302002992ICSRPaper_ATypologyofLoneWolves_Pantucci.pdf.

⁴³– Ibid.p4

⁴⁴– Teich, Sarah (October 2013). “Trends and Developments in Lone Wolf Terrorism in the Western World”. International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved 23 March 2016. file:///C:/Users/SA2/Downloads/Lone%20Wolf%20-%20Sarah%20Teich%20-%202013%20(1).pdf. And, Hamm Mark, “Ramon Spaaij. Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism: Global Patterns, Motivations and Prevention,” review of Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism: Global Patterns, Motivations and Prevention, by Ramon Spaaij. Perspectives on Terrorism 6, no. 4 (2012).

⁴⁵ -Gill, P., Horgan, J. and Deckert, P. (2014), Bombing Alone: Tracing the Motivations and Antecedent Behaviors of Lone-Actor Terrorists, J Forensic Sci, 59: 425–435. doi:10.1111/1556-4029.12312. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.12312/full.

⁴⁶– ibid.

^47- Christopher Hewitt (2014) Jeffrey D. Simon. Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat, Terrorism and Political Violence, 26:2, 390-391, DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2014.881675