Dr. Christina Schori Liang, Leader of the Terrorism and Organised Crime Cluster at the GCSP contributed her expertise to the 2017 Global Terrorism Index Report for the third year in a row. The report is a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last 17 years.

Dr. Liang’s chapter “Leaderless Jihad in a Leaderless World: The Future of Terrorism," (p. 88-91) maintains that the global campaign of jihad is not only being fueled by technology but is also being reinforced by the increasing number of at-risk youth, demographics and the persistent conflicts in the Middle East. She maintains that terrorism is also benefitting from the lack of  trust in global leadership and good governance. Dr. Liang portends that technology is offering terrorist groups greater strategic and operational reach and that terrorists will continue to exploit the internet to conduct cyber operations and ultimately cyber warfare.