Daniel Byman

Director, Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program
Daniel Byman

Daniel Byman is the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and director of the Security Studies Program. He is the foreign policy editor for Lawfare and has served as a senior adviser to the Department of State on the International Security Advisory Board. In addition to serving as the vice dean for the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, he was a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and a professional staff member with both the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States (9-11 Commission) and the Joint 9/11 Inquiry Staff of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. He formerly served as research director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation and as a Middle East analyst for the U.S. intelligence community. Dr. Byman is a leading researcher and has written widely on a range of topics related to terrorism, insurgency, intelligence, social media, artificial intelligence, and the Middle East. He is the author of nine books, including Road Warriors: Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad (Oxford, 2019), Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs Know (Oxford, 2015), and A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism (Oxford, 2011). He is the author or coauthor of almost 200 academic and policy articles, monographs, and book chapters as well as numerous opinion pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other leading journals. Dr. Byman is a graduate of Amherst College and received his PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Programs & Projects

Areas of Expertise

Spreading Hate

Spreading Hate

Spreading Hate: The Global Rise of White Supremacist Terrorism examines the evolution of the white power movement around the world, explaining its appeal and the threat it poses as well as many failures. In this sweeping, authoritative account, Daniel Byman traces the key moments in the white power movement's evolution in the United States and around the world and then details its many facets today. Using a wide range of sources, Byman explodes several myths about white power terrorism and exposes dangerous gaps in current policies.

Buy Book

In the News 8 of 148 results

Show More

All Daniel Byman Content

Filter by

1 - 10 of 71 results

Global Terrorism Threat Assessment 2025

Terrorism remains a threat to U.S. citizens, assets, and interests despite the national security community’s decreasing focus on counterterrorism.

Report by Alexander Palmer, Riley McCabe, Daniel Byman, and Skyeler Jackson — March 28, 2025

Improving U.S. Intelligence Sharing with Allies and Partners

As the U.S. prepares to compete with China and other adversaries, intelligence sharing with key partners will be vital. In practice, however, intelligence sharing is beset with difficulties, including limited trust, poor bureaucratic procedures, and under-resourcing.

Report by Daniel Byman — January 28, 2025

Jihadist Terrorism in the United States

Despite the attack in New Orleans, long-term trends suggest that jihadist terrorism in the U.S. is not resurgent. The number of jihadist plots and attacks in the U.S. has been low and the average lethality of attacks has also fallen since the territorial defeat of ISIS. 

Brief by Alexander Palmer, Skyeler Jackson, and Daniel Byman — January 21, 2025