Terrorism watch: It Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better

Jihadist attacks like the ones in London, Orlando and Manchester typify what Bruce Newsome at The Conversation calls “the newest form of terrorism.” It aims “to kill as many people as possible, as frequently as possible, as horrifically as possible, intimately, suicidally, with the most accessible weapons, in the most accessible public spaces.” And not in long-planned hijackings or bombings, but with “more frequent active violence, hostage-takings and kidnappings.” No longer do they “just wait for an infrequent spectacular attack like 9/11.” So while terrorist attacks are becoming less lethal individually, they’re growing more so when added together. Plus: “Terrorist ideologies are becoming more religiously extreme. This is associated with more murderousness, more willingness to die and more intransigence.”