Does Killing Terrorist Leaders Make Any Difference? Scholars Are Doubtful

Posted August 30, 2016

External Article: The New York Times

Jenna Jordan, an assistant professor in the Ivan Allen College Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, was featured in “Does Killing Terrorist Leaders Make Any Difference? Scholars Are Doubtful" for The New York Times.

Excerpt:

Two features make a terrorist group able to withstand a senior officer’s death, according to research by Jenna Jordan, a Georgia Tech professor and a leading expert on the subject.

The first is popular support. Groups need a steady stream of recruits and a pool of potential new leaders. Support among civilians in areas in which the groups primarily operate also makes them more stable, by broadening support networks and helping them to safely retrench when needed. Leaders are usually killed in or near communities that support them, resulting in those communities rallying behind the terrorist group and against whoever did the killing.

For the full article, read here.