Tricia Bacon

Degrees

• PhD Georgetown 2013
• MA University of Florida 2002
• BA Stetson University 2000

Tricia Bacon, PhD, is an Associate Professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs. She directs the Policy Anti-Terrorism Hub at American University. She is the author of Terror in Transition: Leadership and Succession in Terrorist Organizations with Columbia University Press in 2022 and Why Terrorist Organizations Form International Alliances published with University of Pennsylvania Press in May 2018.

Prior to her employment at American University, Dr. Bacon worked on counterterrorism for over ten years at the Department of State, including in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Counterterrorism, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Her work on counterterrorism in the intelligence community received numerous accolades, and she conducted research and analysis on counterterrorism, with a focus on South Asia and Africa.

Dr. Bacon is a non-resident fellow with George Washington University's Program on Extremism and an associate fellow with the International Centre for Counter-terrorism. She serves on the Countering Terrorism & Extremism Program Advisory Council for the Middle East Institute and the editorial board of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Perspectives on Terrorism, and The Journal of the Middle East and Africa.

Her research focuses on terrorist and insurgent groups' behavior and decision-making, U.S. counterterrorism policy, and the role of intelligence in national security decision-making. She has published articles on terrorist group alliances, terrorist leadership, terrorist safe havens, and other related topics.

Area of Expertise

Counter terrorism, foreign policy, terrorist groups and leadership, Al-Qaida, al-Shabaab, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, ISIS/ISIL, Boko Haram, the Taliban, insurgency, intelligence, national security, South Asia, East Africa, Somalia, and foreign fighters

Additional Information

Prof. Tricia Bacon worked on counter terrorism for more than ten years at the Department of State, including in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Counterterrorism, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. She conducted research and analysis on counter terrorism in South Asia, North Africa, East Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. She is a non-resident fellow with George Washington's Program on Extremism. She was also a pre-doctoral fellow at the Brookings Institution, a visiting scholar and terrorism research award recipient at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, and a PRISP Fellow and Presidential Management Fellow at the State Department. Her research focuses on terrorist groups' relationships, terrorist group leaders, foreign fighters, and proxy relationships. Prof. Bacon is the author of Why Terrorist Groups Form International Alliances (University of Pennsylvania Press) that advances our understanding of the motivations of terrorist groups' relations with one another. Her work on counter terrorism in the intelligence community received numerous accolades. She is frequently quoted in local, national and international media outlets.