Clint Watts
Clint Watts is a Robert A. Fox Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Program on the Middle East as well as a Senior Fellow with its Program on National Security. He serves as the President of Miburo Solutions, Inc. Watts’ research focuses on analyzing transnational threat groups operating in local environments on a global scale. Before starting Miburo Solutions, he served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent on a Joint Terrorism Task Force, and as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC). His publications include: al Qaeda’s (Mis) Adventures in the Horn of Africa, Combating Terrorism Center, 2007 (Co-editor, Co-author); “Can the Anbar Strategy Work in Pakistan?” Small Wars Journal, 2007 ; “Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan: What Foreign Fighter Data Reveals About the Future of Terrorism?” Small Wars Journal, 2008; “Foreign Fighters: How are they being recruited?” Small Wars Journal, 2008; “Countering Terrorism from the Second Foreign Fighter Glut,” Small Wars Journal, 2009; and, “Capturing the Potential of Outlier Ideas in the Intelligence Community,” Studies in Intelligence – CIA, 2011.(Co-author). He is also the editor of the SelectedWisdom.com blog.
Articles
- Can the Michelin Model Fix Fake News? - The Daily Beast -
- How Russia Wins an Election - Politico -
- The Jihadi Threat: ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Beyond - United States Institute of Peace -
- Media Alerts for FPRI Scholars - Scholars in the News -
- Trolling for Trump: How Russia is Trying to Destroy Our Democracy - War on the Rocks -
- America’s Counterterrorism Allies: What Are They Good For? - Lawfare -
- Why Russia Wants the U.S. to Believe the Election Is Being Hacked - PBS NOVAnext -
- How Russia Dominates Your Twitter Feed to Promote Lies (And, Trump, Too) - The Daily Beast -
- It’s Not You, It’s Me: al-Qaeda Lost Jabhat al-Nusra. Now What? - War on the Rocks -
- Deciphering Competition Between al-Qa’ida and the Islamic State - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point Sentinel -
- Why Does Progress Against ISIS in Iraq and Syria Feel Like Defeat? - World Politics Review -
- Horrific ISIS Attacks During Ramadan Disguise a Retreating and Fracturing Terror Group - Huffington Post WorldPost -
- Terrorism’s Deadly New Breed - Foreign Policy -
- When The Caliphate Crumbles: The Future Of The Islamic State’s Affiliates - War on the Rocks -
- Beyond Syria and Iraq, The Islamic State’s HR Files Illuminate Dangerous Trends - War on the Rocks -
- Terror in Europe: Safeguarding U.S. Citizens At Home And Abroad - Transcripts and Testimonies -
- Why ISIS Beats al Qaeda in Europe - Foreign Affairs -
- The Islamic State in Europe: Terrorists without Borders, Counterterrorists with All Borders - War on the Rocks -
- A Wounded Islamic State is A Dangerous Islamic State - Foreign Policy -
- What is the Future of al-Qaida and the Islamic State? - The Brookings Institution's Markaz Blog -
- Why the U.S. Can’t Make a Magazine Like ISIS - The Daily Beast -
- 5 Questions on the Islamic State for GOP Presidential Candidates - War on the Rocks -
- Did Anonymous Just Save the World from ISIL? - War on the Rocks -
- ISIS and al Qaeda Race to the Bottom -
- Confessions of a Jihadi Nerd: A Guide to Reading the New Bin Laden Documents - War on the Rocks -
- End Game: Al-Shabab as a Model for the Islamic State’s Decline - World Politics Review -
- Countering ISIL’s Ideology: Keep It Limited, Focused, and in Tune with Lessons Learned - Washington Institute for Near East Policy -
- The Microsoft of Terrorism - Foreign Affairs -
- Inspired, Networked, & Directed – The Muddled Jihad of ISIS & al Qaeda Post Hebdo - War on the Rocks -
- The Three Versions of Al Qaeda: A Primer - FootNotes -
- U.S. Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism: An Assessment - E-Notes -
- Radicalization in the U.S. Beyond al Qaeda - E-Books -
- What If There Is No Al-Qaeda? Preparing for Future Terrorism - E-Notes -
- Major Nidal Hasan and the Fort Hood Tragedy: Implications for the U.S. Armed Forces - E-Notes -
Events
- Fake News and Russian Information Operations -
- Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism After San Bernardino, Orlando, and Nice: Where Do We Go from Here? -
- 2016 Champagne Brunch for Partners -
- Is ISIS Stoppable? -
- ISIS, CVE, and Foreign Fighters: A Panel Discussion -
- ISIS on the March? -
- Battling al Qaeda: Is the United State Winning? -
- Al Qaeda: Understanding the Threat -
- Foreign Fighters in Syria and Beyond -
- Homegrown Terrorism: What We Know, What We Need to Find Out -
- The Boston Bombings: Lessons Learned -
Conferences
Audio/Video
- Terrorism at Home and Abroad: An Update on the Level of Threat and Possible Responses -
- What to Do about ISIS? FPRI’s 2016 Champagne Brunch for Partners -
- On the Brussels Attacks -
- Is ISIS Stoppable? -
- ISIS, CVE, and Foreign Fighters: A Panel Discussion -
- ISIS on the March? -
- al-Qaeda 2.0 -
- Foreign Fighters in Syria and Beyond -
- The Boston Bombings: Lessons Learned -
Blog Posts
- Will “Chaos” Save America And The Peace? The Coming Battle Between Trump’s Zealots and America’s Pragmatists - Geopoliticus -
- Yesterday was not a good day in American history - Geopoliticus -
- Why al Qaeda and Islamic State Threats To Attack The West Should Be Taken More Seriously Now - Geopoliticus -
- Two-and-a-Half Years After ISIS’s Rise: Global Jihad Spreads And Morphs - Geopoliticus -
- What Should We Make Of The Islamic State’s Ramadan Wave Of Violence? - Geopoliticus -
- How To Break Up With Al Qaeda & Date ISIS - FPRI Infographics, Geopoliticus -
- After Orlando: What is different about the current Islamic State-inspired attacks? - Geopoliticus -
- Brussels’ Big Terrorism Problem: Is This the Islamic State? - Geopoliticus -
- Silicon Valley Meets The Snake Eaters: State Department’s Countermessaging Goes Back To The Future - Geopoliticus -
- Who Conducted the Paris Attacks & Stormed the Bataclan Theater? ISIS? Al Qaeda? - Geopoliticus -
- U.S. Troops in Syria: A Quick Assessment Of The U.S. Strategy To Combat The Islamic State – One Year On - Geopoliticus -
- Russia returns as al Qaeda and the Islamic State’s ‘Far Enemy’ - Geopoliticus -
- The Islamic State Online: Countering the Symptom Rather Than The Disease May Only Make Them Stronger - Geopoliticus -
- Can the Islamic State hijack September 11 from Zawahiri’s al Qaeda? - Geopoliticus -
- Four Key Drivers For Eroding ISIS - Geopoliticus -
- Are We Our Own Worst Enemy? The Problems in Countering Jihadi Narratives and How to Fix Them - Geopoliticus -
- Why the U.S. Raid On Abu Sayyaf and ISIS in Eastern Syria May Be A Game Changer - Geopoliticus -
- One year later, ISIS overtakes al Qaeda: What’s next? - Geopoliticus -
- ISIS Gets Kicked Off Twitter: Will they evolve or devolve on the Internet? - Geopoliticus -
- The White House CVE Summit: What should we expect? More of the same or a new direction to counter ISIS? - Geopoliticus -
- Who attacked Charlie Hebdo in Paris? Assessing a Jihadi Attack in The West, ISIS vs al Qaeda - Geopoliticus -
- As ISIS Takes A Pounding While Nusra Takes Ground In Syria’s Security Vacuum - Geopoliticus -
- You Don’t Win Hearts and Minds, You Rent Them – Reigniting Sunni Tribes Against ISIS - Geopoliticus -
- Al Qaeda versus ISIS: In the campaign for jihad’s top slot, Yemen is a swing state. - Geopoliticus -
- “Why Don’t We Go After Assad in Syria First?” – Thoughts on Countering ISIS Part 4 - Geopoliticus -
- Seven Flaws In the U.S. Strategy to Counter ISIS - Geopoliticus -
- The U.S. Can’t Destroy ISIS, Only ISIS Can Destroy ISIS – The Unfortunate Merits of the “Let Them Rot” Strategy - Geopoliticus -
- Potential Implications of U.S. killing al Shabaab’s Leader In Somalia – Ahmed Godane - Geopoliticus -
- Why would the U.S. want to be ISIS’s ‘Far Enemy’? - Geopoliticus -
- How does the U.S. counter al Qaeda while al Qaeda fights itself? - Geopoliticus -
- Would jihad’s new generation kill off al-Qaeda’s global leader Ayman al-Zawahiri? - Geopoliticus -
- ISIS’s Rise After al Qaeda’s House of Cards – Part 4 of “Smarter Counterterrorism” - Geopoliticus -
- Jihadi Competition After al Qaeda Hegemony – The ‘Old Guard’, Team ISIS & The Battle For Jihadi Hearts & Minds - Geopoliticus -
- Treating America’s al Qaeda Addiction – Part 2 of “Smarter Counterterrorism” - Geopoliticus -
- Smarter Counterterrorism in The Age of Competing Al Qaeda’s - Geopoliticus -
- Israel: Has ‘Old Guard’ al Qaeda Shifted Focus? - Geopoliticus -
- In Syria, an al Qaeda group falls victim to other Islamists and jihadists - Geopoliticus -
- Post-Snowden: The Hypocrisy of Tech Company Calls for Surveillance Reform - Geopoliticus -
- Do al Qaeda Affiliates Actually Have a Plan? - Geopoliticus -
- Zawahiri’s Latest Message: Please Listen To Me Jihadis, Stop Bickering - Geopoliticus -
- The Coup That Wasn’t Tweeted: Looking Back At Egypt’s Social Media Revolution - Geopoliticus -
- External Forces Driving al-Qaeda Action and Zawahiri’s Global Conference Call - Geopoliticus -
- Al-Qaeda Plots, NSA Intercepts & the Era Of Terrorism Competition - Geopoliticus -
- Al Qaeda in Iraq publicly rebuts al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri - Geopoliticus -
- Syria: Suffering the effects of the 2nd Foreign Fighter Glut - Geopoliticus -
- Detecting the radicalization and recruitment of the Boston Bombers - Geopoliticus -
- al Qaeda doesn’t follow its own lessons learned! - Geopoliticus -
- Why al Qaeda Needs Donations More Than Ransoms - Geopoliticus -
- Are today’s al Qaeda offshoots following Bin Laden’s vision? - Geopoliticus -
In the news
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted on CNN - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted by Fox News - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in Time - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in International Business Times on Russia’s Information War - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in Reuters on Russian Disinformation - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Interviewed by WHYY’s Radio Times - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Interviewed on CSPAN - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted on CNN - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in Washington Post - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in The Washington Post - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in NewsMax - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in Business Insider - Scholars in the News -
- What to Read by FPRI on Iraq, Syria, and ISIS - BackChannel -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in National Security Critical Issues Task Force - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Served as a Guest on Buzzfeed’s “No One Knows Anything” Podcast - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in Business Insider - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Interviewed at ITC World Summit - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in Business Insider - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Business Insider - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in FactCheck - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Appears on BBC America - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in Western Journal - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in Business Insider - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in Huffington Post - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in The Globe and Mail - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in Malay Mail Online - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited by The National - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in Vox - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in Business Insider - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watt’s Quoted in The Washington Times on Islamic State - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Explores Where the ISIS Fight is Heading on MSNBC Live - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Discusses the Effects of “Cascading Terrorism” on Morning Joe - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Names its New Cohort of Robert A. Fox Fellows - BackChannel -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Huffington Post on the Reactions to Orlando - Scholars in the News -
- Three FPRI Senior Fellows Cited in International Security - Scholars in the News -
- Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Discusses al-Shabaab in an Interview on PBS Newshour - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Cited in World Magazine - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in UPI - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Senate Committee Testimony Quoted in U.S. News - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quote in Military Times about Potential Terrorist Targets - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts interviewed on WBUR about Attacks in Brussels - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Interviewed by NJOHSP - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted in War on the Rocks - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Opposing Views on ISIS’ Brutal Tactics - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Fox Fellow Clint Watts Interviewed on NPR About the Differences between Paris and San Bernardino - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted by Philly.com about ISIS-Inspired Attack on Philadelphia Police Officer - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Fox News Article on ISIS’ Internal Struggles - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Time Magazine on ISIS vs. al Qaeda Rivalry - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in The Atlantic on ISIS - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Omaha World Herald on France’s Foreign Fighter Problem - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited by FoxNews on ISIS’ Baby Boom - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted on Recruiting Tactics used by ISIS - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Fox Fellow Clint Watts Quoted on 2015 Jihad Terror Cases - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI Fox Fellow, Clint Watts, Quoted on Children and ISIS - Scholars in the News -
- New FPRI Fox Fellow, Clint Watts, on the U.S. Countering ISIS Propaganda - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Vox Article on Released Bin Laden Documents - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in the Daily Beast on Released Bin Laden Documents - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Appears on the Loopcast Podcast Discussing CVE - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Interviewed on CNN about Terrorists’ Use of Social Media - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited at Length in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Combatting ISIS - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered about Terrorists’ Use of Social Media - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Provides Advice for France in its War on Terror at War on the Rocks - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in Financial Times on the “Rise of the Armchair Terrorist Tracker” - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in Catholic Online on Threat of Lone-Wolf Terrorism - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Voice of America on Arab Foreign Fighters - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Newsmax’s on Jihadists’ Use of Cyber-Recruiting - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in International Business Times on “Broad-Based Jihad” - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in Slate on ISIS-al-Qaida Connection - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Buzzfeed on Hostage Taker’s Allegiance To ISIS - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in Washington Post on Unconventional Warfare, IS, and the West - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Interviewed on ABC World News about the Terrorist Attack in Canada - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Profiled in the Boston Globe as New Breed of Jihadi Hunter - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Vox.com on Westerners Joining ISIS - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Interviewed on NPR about ISIS’s Use of Social Media - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Has his Blog on al Shabaab Cited in the Global Post - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Barak Mendelsohn and Clint Watts Quoted in The Hill on ISIS’ Propaganda Machine - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Cited in the Huffington Post on al Shabab - Scholars in the News -
- FPRI’s Clint Watts Quoted in Daily Beast Article on ISIS’ Use of Social Media - Scholars in the News -
