R. Kim Cragin

Blog Posts, Op-Eds, and Podcasts by Date

2025. “A Better Way to Talk about Risk,” Lawfareblog, 6 July 2025. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-better-way-to-talk-about-risk

2024. “Taking Stock of the Islamic State,” Lawfareblog, 15 December 2024. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/taking-stock-of-the-islamic-state

2024. “The Evolution of ISIS and its Challenge for U.S. Foreign Policy,” Network 20/20 Commentary. YouTube, June 2024. https://youtu.be/4RD2XMqY0hM?si=pN15Awjbv6-Am4PT

2024. Cragin, R. Kim, “Hamas Cannot Be Fought Like Al-Qaeda,” Lawfareblog, 12 May 2024. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/hamas-cannot-be-fought-like-al-qaeda

2023. Cragin, R. Kim, “Counterterrorism Jenga,” Lawfareblog, 25 June 2023. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/counterterrorism-jenga

2022. Cragin, R. Kim, “Disrupting Violent Extremists’ Free Spaces Online and Off,” Lawfareblog, 17 November 2022. https://www.lawfareblog.com/disrupting-violent-extremists-free-spaces-online-and

2021. Cragin, R. Kim, Michael Bartlett, and Will Crass, “Recalibrating U.S. Counterterrorism: Lessons Learned from Spain,” Lawfareblog, 10 October 2021. https://www.lawfareblog.com/recalibrating-us-counterterrorism-lessons-learned-spain

2020. R. Kim Cragin and Lachlan MacKenzie, “Russia’s Escalating Use of Private Military Companies in Africa,” Strategic Insights Blog, 24 November 2020, https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/2425797/russias-escalating-use-of-private-military-companies-in-africa/

2020. Youssef, Nancy (moderator), with Kevin McAleenan, Allen W. Batschelet, Kim Cragin, and Max Brooks, “Violent Non-State Actors and the Pandemic,” Valens Global Podcast, June 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF41tb-rlRU

2019. Noonan, Michael, Colin Clarke, Kim Cragin, David Malet and Barak Mendelsohn, “Roundtable: The Future of the Foreign Fighters Problem,” FPRI, November 2019. https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/11/roundtable-the-future-of-the-foreign-fighters-problem/

2019. Cragin, Kim, “Assessing the Threat from Homegrown Extremists Sympathetic to the Islamic State,” Lawfareblog, 7 July 2019. https://www.lawfareblog.com/addressing-threat-homegrown-violent-extremists-sympathetic-islamic-state.

2019. Cragin, Kim, “The Challenge of Failed Cities for Countering Violent Extremism,” available online at https://institute.global/insight/co-existence/collections/2019-challenges-counter-extremism.

2018. Cragin, Kim, “The Enemy Gets a Vote,” Lawfareblog, 16 September 2018, available online at https://www.lawfareblog.com/enemy-gets-vote.

2018. Cragin, R. Kim, “The Riptide: How Foreign Fighter Returnees Could Shape the Jihadist Movement,” 20 March 2018, available online at https://tnsr.org/roundtable/policy-roundtable-future-jihadist-movement/.

2017. Cragin, R. Kim, “Foreign Fighter Hot Potato,” Lawfareblog, 26 November 2017, available online at https://lawfareblog.com/foreign-fighter-hot-potato.

2017. Cragin, R. Kim, “Why the United States Needs Foreign Law Enforcement to Succeed Against the Islamic State,” Lawfareblog, 18 June 2017, available online at https://www.lawfareblog.com/why-united-states-needs-foreign-law-enforcement-succeed-against-islamic-state.

2017. Cragin, Kim, “Foreign Fighters” episode of the Defense Matters podcast, available online at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defense-matters/id1253593329?mt=2; June 28.

2017. Davis, Lynn, Jeffrey Martini, and Kim Cragin, “A Strategy to Counter ISIL as a Transregional Threat,” RAND Perspective, Santa Monica, RAND Corporation. RAND_PE228.

2016. Cragin, R. Kim, “Can Silicon Valley Help in the Social Media War with ISIS?” Middle East Institute blog post, 10 February, http://www.mei.edu/content/article/can-silicon-valley-help-social-media-war-isis.

2015. Cragin, Kim and Ben Connable, “To Undermine ISIS, We Should Welcome Syrian Refugees,” Newsweek, December, http://www.rand.org/blog/2015/12/to-undermine-isis-we-should-welcome-syrian-refugees.html.

2015. Cragin, Kim, “The Growing Role of Women in ISIS,” FOX News Commentary, November, https://video.foxnews.com/v/4628412806001/?#sp=show-clips.

2015. Cragin, Kim, “Tackling Radicalization Before it Begins,” US News and World Report, February 2015, http://rand.org/blog/2015/02/tackling-radicalization-before-it-begins.html.

2002. Cragin, Kim and Bruce Hoffman, “Proven Strategies vs Terror,” New York Daily News, September 2002, http://www.rand.org/blog/2002/09/proven-strategies-vs_-terror.html.

2002. Cragin, Kim and Peter Chalk, “The Role of Social and Economic Development,” in Hitting Home: What We’ve Learned since 9/11 and What We Should Do About It, RAND Review, Summer 2002.

2002. Hoffman, Bruce and Kim Cragin, “Lessons Learned from Five Countries,” in Hitting Home: What We’ve Learned since 9/11 and What We Should Do About It, RAND Review, Summer 2002. [hitting-home]

Congressional Testimony

2017. Cragin, R. Kim, “Europe’s Terrorist Threat,” Testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation and Trade, House of Representatives, 27 June 2017. [Cragin Written Testimony (June 2017)] or https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4675157/terrorist-threat-europe-house-subcommittes-hearing-6-27-2017.

2009. “Understanding Terrorist Motivations,” testimony presented to the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Risk Assessment, Winter 2009.[rand_ct338]

2007. “Understanding Terrorist Ideology,” testimony presented to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Summer 2007. [rand_ct283]

Conferences by Date (and with video records)

2018. Cragin, Kim, “Arc of Crisis in the MENA Region,” panel at the Atlantic Council, October, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6r7BJZiAlg

2017. Cragin, Kim, “Security in the Maghreb Region,” presentation made at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,” December, https://www.c-span.org/video/?438027-3/security-threats-north-africa-panel-2.

2015. Cragin, Kim, “Countering the Lure of ISIS,” presentation made at the Middle East Institute, August, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIO_g5X_XoY.

2006. Cragin, Kim. “Hamas: Past, Present, Future,” Woodrow Wilson Center, 18 April, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/hamas-past-present-and-future.