The Top Ten Ways COVID-19 Could Impact Terrorism

Terrorists engaging in activities to gain positive publicity, increased susceptibility of individuals to radicalization, and bioterrorism as a viable tactic – these are three of the top ten ways COVID-19 could impact terrorism, according to an article published in Homeland Security Today. Speaking to the potential advent of bioterrorism, the articles observes the pandemic has exposed many weaknesses in global public health systems that terrorists have undoubtedly noticed and that they might seek to exploit. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point’s June issue of its monthly Sentinel magazine made similar observations about the potential for terrorists to be inspired by the impacts of COVID-19 to potentially seek to wage bioterror attacks in the future (WaterISAC discussed this issue in it June 30 Security and Resilience Update). Returning to the Homeland Security Today article, and following on its earlier observation for the potential for terrorists to develop engage in bioterrorism, its next top ten way is “weaponizing COVID-19.” This speaks to how terrorists could weaponize the current pandemic, providing a series of possible scenarios. While these scenarios would play out in the near future, the article’s authors add that some of the others, especially terrorist efforts to radicalize and recruit, are more likely to bear fruit in the years following the end of the pandemic, during what many project will be a lengthy economic stagnation and recovery period. Read the article at Homeland Security Today.