According to the authors, this wave “has been exaggerated and rests upon a collection of precarious assumptions.” They further state that: “these various assumptions support what we refer to as the “perfect storm” theory of COVID-19 and terrorism, to which we now turn a critical eye. By taking a contrarian view, we hope to encourage a more balanced and rigorous discussion of the pandemic’s effects on terrorism.”

Dr. Sam Mullins is a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS). The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the views of DKI APCSS, the US Department of Defense or the US government.