Terrorexpertise:Major World Newspapers List

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Methodology

Below is a table of the 100 Terrorism Experts most prominent in major world newspapers. 437 names were taken from the Bulk List of experts and searched at LexisNexis's Major World Publications group[1] for items published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2007. The search included each expert’s name [2] as well as any reference to 'terrorism', 'terrorist' or variations of the phrase 'suicide bomb'[3]. The 100 most prolific experts are reproduced in the table below in descending order of the number of items returned. The table also displays the variations of each individual’s name used in the search.

Nine experts though their name returned the requisite number of items were excluded from this list, details of which are included in the Notes section below[4].

Analysis

  • A plurality of the experts (43 out of 100) are currently or have previously been a member of state institutions such as government, security or intelligence services, policing or the military. The dominance of the state is even more pronounced if you consider the 20 most prominent experts (who together returned more items than the remaining 80 experts together), 12 of whom have such an affiliation.
  • The majority of the experts (52 of the 100) are currently or have previously been members of private think-tanks or research institutes. Of the remaining 48, 28 are currently or have previously worked in private security or intelligence firms, or alternatively state institutions such as government, security or intelligence, policing or military service.

Of the remaining 20 ‘independent’ experts, four are British journalists[5] and 16 are current or former academics with no such affiliation.[6] The 16 academics include the prominent critic of Western foreign policy Noam Chomsky, as well as several high profile supporters of state and corporate power such as Francis Fukuyama, Alan Dershowitz, Walter Laqueur, and Fouad Ajami.

  • 47 of the 100 experts are currently or have previously held tenure at an institution of higher education. Of those 47, 26 are known to be members of Private Think-Tanks or Research Institutes.
  • 15 experts are current or former journalists. Of those 15, two have been employed in private security or intelligence firms, six have worked for a government, intelligence or law enforcement agency, and five are known to be members of Private Think-Tanks or Research Institutes. The four journalists with no such affiliations are Jason Burke, Simon Reeve, Kevin Toolis and Neil Doyle. The latter although not known to be directly affiliated with any institution is closely association with corporate security.

This list is one of a number compiled including:

Terrorexpertise:Bulk List
Terrorexpertise:Scholar_List
Terrorexpertise:Google Books List
Terrorexpertise:Elite Conference List
Terrorexpertise:The 'Terrorism' Industry List
Terrorexpertise:UK Television List

Terrorism Experts ranked according to number of articles returned

 Name of ExpertItems ReturnedName variations used
1 Mick Keelty 2605 Mick Keelty
2 Richard Clarke 2025 Richard Clarke or Richard A. Clarke
3 Benjamin Netanyahu 1947 Benjamin Netanyahu
4 Peter Clarke 1180 Peter Clarke
5 Rohan Gunaratna 1009 Rohan Gunaratna
6 Noam Chomsky 788 Noam Chomsky
7 Patrick Mercer 681 Patrick Mercer
8 Sidney Jones 610 Sidney Jones
9 Clive Williams 588 Clive Williams
10 Francis Fukuyama 503 Francis Fukuyama
11 Daniel Pipes 486 Daniel Pipes
12 Paul Wilkinson 472 Paul Wilkinson
13 Jason Burke 464 Jason Burke
14 Avi Dichter 453 Avi Dichter
15 Anthony Cordesman 431 Anthony Cordesman
16 Alan Dershowitz 376 Alan Dershowitz
17 Bruce Hoffman 369 Bruce Hoffman
18 Peter Bergen 357 Peter Bergen
19 David Veness 350 David Veness
20 Robert Baer 335 Robert Baer
21 Arnaud de Borchgrave 322 Arnaud de Borchgrave
22 Michael Clarke 311 Michael Clarke
23 Jonathan Evans 311 Jonathan Evans
24 Magnus Ranstorp 310 Magnus Ranstorp
25 Irwin Cotler 293 Irwin Cotler
26 Daniel Benjamin 275 Daniel Benjamin
27 Michael Scheuer 268 Michael Scheuer
28 Zachary Abuza 267 Zachary Abuza
29 David Capitanchik 256 David Capitanchik
30 John Thompson 238 John Thompson
31 Simon Reeve 234 Simon Reeve
32 Wesley Wark 230 Wesley Wark or Wesley K. Wark
33 Frances Townsend 225 Frances Townsend or Fran Townsend
34 David Charters 222 David Charters
35 Kevin Toolis 216 Kevin Toolis
36 Tariq Ramadan 204 Tariq Ramadan
37 Steve Emerson 203 Steve Emerson or Steven emerson
38 Steve Simon 201 Steve Simon or steven simon
39 Paul Beaver 186 Paul Beaver
40 Larry Johnson 184 Larry Johnson or Larry C. Johnson
41 Brian Jenkins 171 Brian Jenkins or Brian Michael Jenkins or Brian M. Jenkins
42 Rita Katz 157 Rita Katz
43 David Wright-Neville 154 David Wright-Neville
44 Olivier Roy 152 Olivier Roy
45 Michael Ledeen 149 Michael Ledeen
46 Robert Pape 149 Robert Pape or Robert A. Pape
47 Lawrence Eagleburger 144 Lawrence Eagleburger
48 Boaz Ganor 144 Boaz Ganor
49 Paul Rogers 142 Paul Rogers
50 Mike Yardley 142 Mike Yardley or Michael Yardley
51 Fouad Ajami 136 Fouad Ajami
52 Paul Pillar 135 Paul Pillar or Paul R. Pillar
53 Conor Cruise O'Brien 134 Conor Cruise O'Brien
54 Jessica Stern 129 Jessica Stern
55 Patrick Clawson 126 Patrick Clawson
56 Graham Allison 124 Graham Allison
57 Michael Osterholm 122 Michael Osterholm or Michael T. Osterholm
58 Peter Power 119 Peter Power
59 John O'Connor 115 John O'Connor
60 Matthew Levitt 104 Matthew Levitt or Matthew A. Levitt
61 Michael McKinley 96 Michael McKinley
62 Mustafa Alani 94 Mustafa Alani
63 Stephen Schwartz 91 Stephen Schwartz
64 Louise Richardson 90 Louise Richardson
65 Evan Kohlmann 89 Evan Kohlmann or Evan F. Kohlmann
66 Anthony Glees 86 Anthony Glees
67 Laurie Mylroie 85 Laurie Mylroie
68 Bruce Riedel 85 Bruce Riedel or Bruce O. Riedel
69 Nick Kaldas 80 Nick Kaldas
70 John Sifton 79 John Sifton
71 Jeane Kirkpatrick 78 Jeane Kirkpatrick
72 Neil Doyle 77 Neil Doyle
73 Donald Henderson 74 Donald Henderson or Donald A. Henderson
74 Jonathan Stevenson 74 Jonathan Stevenson
75 Irwin Redlener 71 Irwin Redlener
76 Charles Pena 65 Charles Pena or Charles V. Pena
77 Dan Plesch 65 Dan Plesch
78 Tara O'Toole 64 Tara O'Toole
79 Michael Walzer 64 Michael Walzer
80 Daniel Byman 63 Daniel Byman
81 Walter Laqueur 62 Walter Laqueur
82 Adam Roberts 60 Adam Roberts
83 Marc Sageman 59 Marc Sageman
84 Jusuf Wanandi 59 Jusuf Wanandi
85 Athol Yates 59 Athol Yates
86 Crispin Black 58 Crispin Black
87 Rachel Ehrenfeld 58 Rachel Ehrenfeld
88 Andrew Lynch 58 Andrew Lynch
89 Rolf Tophoven 56 Rolf Tophoven
90 Alan Krueger 55 Alan Krueger or Alan B. Krueger
91 Roger Cressey 53 Roger Cressey
92 Jack Goldsmith 52 Jack Goldsmith
93 Alex Standish 52 Alex Standish
94 Cass Sunstein 52 Cass Sunstein or Cass R. Sunstein
95 Charles Shoebridge 51 Charles Shoebridge
96 Scott Atran 50 Charles Shoebridge
97 Seth Jones 50 Seth Jones or Seth G. Jones
98 Yonah Alexander 49 Yonah Alexander
99 David Claridge 49 David Claridge
100 Fred Halliday 49 Fred Halliday

Notes

  1. The LexisNexis Major World Newspapers group file which was used for the search contains over 40 full-text newspapers from around the world. According to LexisNexis the papers included “are generally regarded by the reading public as those giving the most comprehensive and reliable coverage”. A full list of the sources is below. Major World Newspapers Sources
    ABIX - Australasian Business Intelligence
    Asia Africa Intelligence Wire - Selected Publications
    Belfast Telegraph
    Brisbane News
    BRW Abstracts (Australia)
    Business Day (South Africa)
    Countryman
    Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday
    Daily News (New York)
    Daily Record & Sunday Mail
    Daily Telegraph & Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)
    Financial Mail (South Africa)
    Financial Post Investing
    Financial Times
    Global News Wire
    Herald Sun & Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne)
    Het Financieele Dagblad (English)
    Hobart Mercury/Sunday Tasmanian
    INEWS/ITHSUN
    INEWS/THESUN
    Information Bank Abstracts
    International Herald Tribune
    Kiplinger Publications
    Korea Herald
    Korea Times
    Los Angeles Times (most recent 6 months)
    Mainichi Daily News
    Miami Herald
    Moscow News
    National Post
    Newsday (most recent 6 months)
    New Straits Times (Malaysia)
    Northern Territory News (Australia)
    South China Morning Post
    Sunday Times (South Africa)
    Sunday Tribune
    The Advertiser/Sunday Mail (Australia)
    The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
    The Australian
    The Australian Financial Review Abstracts
    The Boston Globe
    The Business
    The Business Times Singapore
    The Canberra Times
    The Courier Mail and The Sunday Mail (Australia)
    The Daily and Sunday Telegraph (London)
    The Daily Star and Sunday Star
    The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo)
    The Dominion (Wellington)
    The Dominion Post (Wellington)
    The Express
    The Express - Most Recent Two Weeks
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    The Guardian (London)
    The Herald (Glasgow)
    The Independent and Independent on Sunday (London)
    The Irish Times
    The Japan Times
    The Jerusalem Post
    The Jerusalem Report
    The Kalgoorlie Miner
    The Mirror and The Sunday Mirror
    The Moscow Times
    The Nation (Thailand)
    The News of the World
    The New York Times
    The New York Times - Biographical Materials
    The New York Times - Government Biographical Materials
    The New Zealand Herald
    The Observer
    The Philadelphia Inquirer
    The Prague Post
    The Press (Christchurch)
    The Scotsman & Scotland on Sunday
    The Straits Times (Singapore)
    The Sun
    The Sunday Express
    The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
    The Times & Sunday Times
    The Toronto Star
    The Toronto Sun
    The Washington Post
    The Washington Post Biographical Stories
    The Washington Times
    The West Australian
    USA Today
    Wall Street Journal Abstracts
    Xtreme Information
  2. The searches were based on the Christian name and Surname of the experts. Where the use of a middle name, middle initial or a variation on the individual’s Christian name appeared to be in common use this was also incorporated into the search. This was determined by a Google search of the individual’s Christian name and Surname and a noting down of all variations used in the first twenty results retured.
  3. The specific details of the search are as follows: [Name of Expert] and terrorism or terrorist or "suicide bomb*" (>=2000-01-01 and <=2007-12-01)
  4. A search for Richard Brennan returned 121 items but 119 of those were articles written by a Toronto Star journalist of the same name. Similarly a search for John Downing returned 114 items but 103 were articles written by the Toronto Sun journalist of the same name. A search for John O’Neill yielded 294 items but a number of those articles referred to other individuals of the same name and the majority concerned O’Neill’s death in the September 11th attacks. In addition the following seven experts were excluded because the articles returned referred predominantly to other individuals of the same name:
    Ali Khan (520 items)
    Robert Thompson (255 items)
    Michael Johnson (127 items)
    Alan Murray (115 items)
    John Murphy (91 items)
    David George (52 items)
    Philip Russell (52 items)
  5. namely Simon Reeve, Jason Burke, Kevin Toolis and Neil Doyle
  6. The 16 ‘independent’ academics are listed below:
    Noam Chomsky
    Francis Fukuyama
    Alan Dershowitz
    David Capitanchik
    Wesley Wark
    David Charters
    Robert Pape
    Fouad Ajami
    Michael McKinley
    Louise Richardson
    Anthony Glees
    Donald Henderson
    Irwin Redlener
    Walter Laqueur
    Andrew Lynch
    Cass Sunstein
    Scott Atran