James J. F. Forest


James J. F. Forest is an American author and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Biography

Forest was born and raised in Idaho, attended high school and community college in California, and earned degrees from Georgetown University, Stanford University and Boston College. He co-founded the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies at UMass Lowell in 2013 and served as its Director from 2015 to 2016.
He is also a visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is the former director of Terrorism Studies at the United States Military Academy in the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and a former senior fellow at the U.S. Joint Special Operations University.
Dr. Forest is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Terrorism & Political Violence and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Perspectives on Terrorism.
He has been cited as a terrorism expert by dozens of news outlets including CNN, CBS, The Globe Post, CNBC, and the Christian Science Monitor,.

Selected publications

Books

Digital Influence Warfare in the Age of Social Media ABC-CLIO/Praeger The Terrorism Lectures Nortia Press Essentials of Counterterrorism Praeger Intersections of Crime and Terrorism Routledge Countering the Terrorism Threat of Boko Haram in Nigeria JSOU Press Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism McGraw-Hill Influence Warfare: How Terrorists and Governments Fight to Shape Perceptions in a War of Ideas Praeger Handbook of Defence Politics: International and Comparative Perspectives Routledge Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century: International Perspectives Praeger Homeland Security: Public spaces and social institutions Praeger Teaching Terror: Strategic and tactical learning in the terrorist world Rowman & Littlefield

Articles and other publications

  • “Israel has no good options for dealing with Hamas’ hostage-taking in Gaza,” The Conversation.
  • “The Evolution of Islamist Terrorism in the 20th Century” in The Routledge Handbook of U.S. Counterterrorism and Irregular Warfare Operations, edited by Michael A. Sheehan, Erich Marquardt, and Liam Collins].
  • “Political Warfare and Propaganda,” Journal of Advanced Military Studies vol. 12, no. 1.
  • “Prevention of Public Panic in the Wake of Terrorist Incidents” in The Handbook of Terrorism Prevention and Preparedness, edited by Alex P. Schmid.
  • “Tracking Terrorism: The Role of Technology in Risk Assessment and Monitoring of Terrorist Offenders”, in Science Informed Policing, edited by Bryanna Fox, Joan A. Reid and Anthony J. Masys.
  • “Crime-Terror Interactions in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.
  • “,” Perspectives on Terrorism Vol. 12, No. 4
  • “Why do Ethnopolitical Organizations Turn to Crime?” Global Crime 16, no. 4.
  • “Behavioral Patterns among Non-State Actors: A Study of Complementary Governance”. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 4: 2.
  • U.S. Military Deployments to Africa: Lessons from the Hunt for Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. Tampa, FL: JSOU Press.
  • Countering the al-Shabaab Insurgency in Somalia: Lessons for U.S. Special Operations Forces. Tampa, FL: JSOU Press.
  • "A Framework for Analyzing the Future Threat of WMD Terrorism," Journal of Strategic Security
  • "Perception Challenges Faced by Al-Qaeda on the Battlefield of Influence Warfare," Perspectives on Terrorism
  • “Ungoverned Territories: Engaging Local Nongovernmental Entities in U.S. Security Strategy,” Atlantic Perspective
  • Harmony and Disharmony: Exploiting al-Qa'ida’s Organizational Vulnerabilities. West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy.