Patterns of Terrorism in the United States, 1970-2013

Although terrorist attacks occur worldwide, aggregated global trends mask important variation at the regional, national, and local level. Recognition of these nuances is critical for understanding the broader causes and consequences of terrorism. In particular, patterns of terrorism in the United States are unique, characterized by especially distinctive trends in the number of attacks over time, the lethality of attacks, and the diversity of perpetrators, weapons, and targets. In this report we examine patterns of terrorism in the United States from 1970 to 2013 based on analysis of the Global Terrorism Database.