Assessing Innovation in Terrorist Financing

The innovation terrorist groups apply to their strategy and tactical operations is subject to increasing study. Yet an assessment of the innovation applied by terrorist groups to their financing is lacking, with consideration typically limited to “where does the money come from and what is it used for?” The forces that determine how terrorist groups fund themselves are questioned less closely. Given the widely held belief by national governments and international organizations that financing is a key requisite of terrorist activity, this omission represents a striking gap in our ability to anticipate, disrupt, and deny terrorists of financing.