James J.F. Forest, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives on Terrorism, an internationally-acclaimed journal of peer-reviewed scholarly analysis. Dr. Forest has published over 20 books on terrorism, counterterrorism, influence warfare, weapons of mass destruction, homeland security and other topics. You can follow him on social media:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JJFForest
- Mastodon: https://federated.press/@jjfforest
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CTProfessor
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjfforest/
Dr. Forest is the former Director of Terrorism Studies at the United States Military Academy, and the recipient of several Department of the Army civilian service awards. During his tenure at West Point (2001-2010) he taught courses on international relations, terrorism, counterterrorism, information warfare, comparative politics and sub-Saharan Africa. He also directed a series of research initiatives and education programs for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), covering topics such as terrorist recruitment, training, and organizational knowledge transfer. For much of this time, BG (ret.) Russell Howard was the Director of the CTC, and General (ret.) Wayne Downing was the Center’s Distinguished Chair. Later, BG (ret.) Michael Meese was the CTC Director, and General (ret.) John Abizaid was the Distinguished Chair. Dr. Forest also served as an assistant dean at West Point, under BG (ret.) Daniel Kaufman. He also served (2010-2019) as a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Joint Special Operations University, and authored several research reports on terrorist groups in Africa (JSOU Monographs #12-5, #14-1, and #14-4).
Dr. Forest is an editorial board member of several journals, including Terrorism and Political Violence, the Journal of Strategic Security, and the Journal of Transportation Security, and has published dozens of articles in journals such as Terrorism and Political Violence, Contemporary Security Policy, Crime and Delinquency, the Journal of Strategic Security, the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, the Journal of Political Science Education, and Democracy and Security
Over the past 20 years he has given talks at the FBI Academy (Quantico), the National Defense Intelligence University, the DoD’s Marshall Center (Germany), the NATO Center of Excellent on Counterterrorism (Turkey), the Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies, SOCOM, Joint Forces Staff College, The JFK School for Special Warfare (Ft. Bragg, NC) and several other military bases, National Defense University and dozens of colleges and universities. He has also consulted on counterterrorism strategies, research projects, and training initiatives, and has testified as a subject matter expert for terrorism-related court trials and for committee hearings of the U.S. Senate.
Dr. Forest received his graduate degrees from Stanford University and Boston College, and undergraduate degrees from Georgetown University and De Anza College. He was born and raised in Idaho, and lives in New Hampshire.
Download a one-page printable Bio (PDF): Forest Bio
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Contact info: Dr. James J.F. Forest, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 113 Wilder St., Suite 400, Lowell, MA 01854-3060. Tel: +1-978-934-4773 / Email: james_forest at uml.edu
Photo above by Adrien Bisson Photography
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