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Leadership targeting has become a key feature of current counterterrorism policies. However, leadership decapitation is not always successful. In order to explain when groups are susceptible to leadership decapitation and when it can have counterproductive cosnequentes, this talk will evaluate data on terrorist groups from 1970 to the present. A theoretical model to evaluate the efficacy of targeting as a counterterrorism strategy will be applied to the case of Al Qaeda and ISIS in order to assess past and future attempts at organizational destabilization.

Jenna Jordan is an assistant professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago, M.A. in Political Science from Stanford University, and B.A. in International Relations from Mills College. She previously held a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Her current book manuscript focuses on the leadership decapitation of terrorist organizations.