USC Hosts Lecture on "Homegrown" Threat from Jihadist Terrorism

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 

WHAT: USC'sNational Center for Risk & Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) will present its Distinguished Speaker Series with a lecture about the capabilities and intentions of al-Qaeda and its affiliates around the world and the extent of the threat from "homegrown" extremists motivated by al-Qaeda's ideology of violent jihad.

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WHO: National security expert Peter Bergen notes that many U.S. counterterrorism officials believe the chances of a large-scale, catastrophic terrorist attack in the United States by al Qaeda or an al Qaeda-affiliated or inspired organization are quite small.

However, the Boston Marathon bombings reminded us that the U.S. still faces a threat from disaffected individuals inspired by al Qaeda's ideology and who often radicalize in the online world. Although they are difficult to detect, these individuals are also quite unlikely to be capable of perpetrating an attack even remotely on the scale of 9/11.

Continued unrest throughout the greater Middle East, especially the current turmoil in Egypt, the rising tensions across the region between Sunnis and Shia, the continuing Syrian civil war and the uncertain future of Afghanistan after U.S. and NATO combat troops are withdrawn are all potential wild cards that could create an environment that gives al Qaeda and allied groups opportunities to resuscitate themselves.

BIO:Peter Bergen is a print and television journalist, documentary producer, think tank director, and the author of four books. He is the director of the national security studies program at the New America Foundation in Washington D.C.; a fellow at Fordham University's Center on National Security and CNN's national security analyst.

In 1997, as a producer for CNN, Bergen produced bin Laden's first television interview, in which he declared war against the United States for the first time to a Western audience. 

His most recent book, a New York Times bestseller, is Manhunt: The Ten Year Search for bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad. The book was translated into eight languages and HBO produced a documentary based upon it. His 2011 New York Times bestseller was The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda.

Bergen has reported on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, counterterrorism, homeland security and countries around the Middle East for a range of American newspapers and magazines. He is a contributing editor at The New Republic and writes a weekly column for CNN.com. And he has worked as a correspondent or producer for multiple documentaries that have aired on National Geographic, Discovery and CNN.

WHEN: Tuesday, July 30 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: University of Southern California, Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC), Grand Ballroom – Room B43, 3607 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089 (campus map here: http://web-app.usc.edu/maps/#upc/)

MORE: Established in 2004, CREATE is an independent, interdisciplinary national research center based at the University of Southern California in the Price School of Public Policy and the Viterbi School of Engineeringand funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. CREATE's mission is to improve our nation's security through the development of advanced models and tools for the evaluation of the risks, costs and consequences of terrorism and to guide economically viable investments in homeland security.

SOURCE National Center for Risk & Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)