Title: Statistical Patterns in Global Terrorism

Speaker: Aaron Clauset, Santa Fe Institute

Date/Time: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 9:30 – 10:30 am

Location: CSRI Building/Room 90

Brief Abstract: Terrorism may seem like a highly strategic and thus largely contingent (unpredictable) phenomenon.  Yet, by considering data on many terrorist attacks together we find that surprising patterns emerge.  In this talk, I’ll describe recent work on understanding the empirical patterns of severe terrorist attacks over the past 40 years, showing, for instance, that their frequency worldwide robustly follows a simple mathematical form.  As time allows, I’ll also briefly discuss what empirical data can tell us about the statistical dynamics of terrorist groups.

CSRI POC: Jon Berry, (505)284-4021