Dr. Lorenzo Vidino
- Title:
- Director
- Email:
- [email protected]
Dr. Lorenzo Vidino is the Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. An expert on Islamism in Europe and North America, his research over the past 20 years has focused on the mobilization dynamics of jihadist networks in the West; governmental counter-radicalization policies; and the activities of Muslim Brotherhood-inspired organizations in the West.
A native of Italy who holds American citizenship, Dr. Vidino earned a law degree from the University of Milan Law School and a doctorate in international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has held positions at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the RAND Corporation, and the Center for Security Studies (ETH Zurich).
The author of several books and numerous articles, Dr. Vidino’s most prominent works are on the Muslim Brotherhood in the West. His first is The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West (Columbia University Press, 2010). The book offers a comparative study of Islamist organizing in various Western countries as well as the wide-ranging public policy responses by Western leaders. His most recent book, The Closed Circle: Joining and Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in the West, (Columbia University Press, 2020) is based on interviews with former members of the group, offering an unprecedented inside view into how one of the world's most influential Islamist groups operates, and how some individuals made the difficult decision to leave. The book has been translated into Arabic, Spanish, French and Italian.
Dr. Vidino has testified before the U.S. Congress and other parliaments; advised law enforcement officials around the world; and taught at universities in the U.S. and Europe. He regularly provides commentary to diverse media outlets (including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya...) and is a columnist for the Italian newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa.
In 2016, he was appointed by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi as Coordinator of the National Commission on Jihadist Radicalization.
Publications
On Radicalization
- “Sharia4: From Confrontational Activism to Militancy,” Perspectives on Terrorism, Volume 9, Number 2, 2015.
- “The Evolution of the Post-9/11 Threat in the United States,” in Bruce Hoffman and Fernando Reinares, eds., The Evolution of the Global Terrorist Threat: From 9/11 to Osama bin Laden's Death (Columbia University Press, 2014).
- “Homegrown Jihadist Terrorism in the United States: A New and Occasional Phenomenon?” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Volume 32, Issue 1, (January 2009). Subscription necessary.
- Radicalization, Linkage and Diversity: Current Trends in Terrorism in Europe, Occasional Paper, RAND Corporation, July 2011.
- “The Role of Non-Violent Islamists in Europe,” West Point CTC Sentinel, December 2010. Page 9.
- “The Buccinasco pentiti: a unique case study of radicalization,” Terrorism and Political Violence, 23: 3, 398 — 418, 2011.
- Home-Grown Jihadism in Italy: Birth, Development and Radicalization Dynamics, ISPI (Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale) and European Foundation for Democracy, April 2014. Published also in Italian under the title Il jihadismo autoctono in Italia: nascita, sviluppo e dinamiche di radicalizzazione.
On Counter-radicalization
- Countering Radicalization in Europe, International Centre for the Study of Radicalization, King’s College London, December 2012. With James Brandon.
- Countering Radicalization in America: Lessons from Europe, special report for the U.S. Institute of Peace, November 2010.
- European Experiences in Counterradicalization, The Sentinel (West Point Combating Terrorism Center), June 2012. With James Brandon.
- "Toward a Radical Solution," Foreign Policy, January 5, 2010.
On Islamism
- The Closed Circle: Joining and Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in the West, Columbia University Press, March 2020.
- The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West, Columbia University Press, August 2010. Translated and published in Arabic by Al Mesbar Studies and Research Center, Dubai, 2011.
- Testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee on Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis and Counterintelligence: The Muslim Brotherhood in the West: Characteristics, Aims and Policy Considerations. Washington, April 13, 2011.
- Western Governments and Political Islam after 2011, Al Mesbar Studies and Research Center (Dubai, December 2012). Editor. In Arabic.
- Translated and published in English as an EBook by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, February 2013 (titled The West and the Muslim Brotherhood After the Arab Spring).
- The Muslim Brotherhood in the West: Evolution and Western policies, special report for the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, King’s College London, March 2011.
- "Why the United States Should Be as Circumspect as the British about the Muslim Brotherhood," Lawfare, February 12, 2017.