Prof. Assaf Moghadam
Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy & Strategy
Ph.D., Tufts University
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Assaf Moghadam is a Professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University, which he joined in 2011. From 2019 to 2024, he served as Dean of the Lauder School. At Reichman University, he directs the MA Program in Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence, the BA Track in Security Studies and Counter-Terrorism, and the Program on Democratic Resilience and Development (PDRD). Prof. Moghadam is also a Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at Reichman University. Prof. Moghadam has taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Columbia University, and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. In 2025-2026, he will be the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University.
Prof. Moghadam previously served as Director of Terrorism Studies and Assistant Professor at the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) and the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and as Director of Academic Affairs at the ICT. He held fellowships at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC) and at the Center for National Security at Fordham Law School. He also held pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, both at Harvard University; at the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia University; and at the Jebsen Center for Counterterrorism at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was an affiliated researcher at the Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland.
Prof. Moghadam’s research examines the dynamics within and between militant actors, with a particular focus on terrorism, insurgency, and proxy wars. He is the co-editor (with Vladimir Rauta and Michel Wyss) of the ‘Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars’ (2023; paperback version 2025), and author of ‘Nexus of Global Jihad: Understanding Cooperation among Terrorist Actors’ (Columbia University Press, 2017, paperback edition 2019). He is also the author of ‘The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks’ (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), which won a Choice award for Outstanding Academic Title, and of ‘The Roots of Terrorism’ (Chelsea House, 2006). He is the co-editor (with Brian Fishman) of ‘Fault Lines in Global Jihad: Organizational, Strategic, and Ideological Fissures’ (Routledge, 2011), and the editor of ‘Militancy and Political Violence in Shiism: Trends and Patterns’ (Routledge, 2012). Two of his books are listed among the top 150 books on terrorism in the journal Perspectives on Terrorism.
Prof. Moghadam has lectured widely on issues related to security, terrorism, insurgency, and proxy wars before audiences in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East and has consulted various government agencies on issues related to terrorism and political violence. He is a Contributing Editor for the journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and an editorial board member of Terrorism and Political Violence, Democracy and Security, and Perspectives on Terrorism. Prof. Moghadam’s articles have appeared in leading peer-reviewed academic journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Perspectives on Terrorism, International Studies Review, and Democracy and Security. His writings have also appeared in other outlets including the Washington Post, Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, Orbis, CTC Sentinel, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, Political Violence @ a Glance, and Die Zeit, among others.
Prof. Moghadam holds a Ph.D. in international relations and an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy (MALD), both from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a B.A. in political science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is married, with three children.
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Assaf Moghadam, Vladimir Rauta, and Michel Wyss, eds., The Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars (London; New York: Routledge, 2022) [under contract]
Assaf Moghadam, Nexus of Global Jihad: Understanding Cooperation Among Terrorist Actors (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017) [Paperback edition, 2019)
Assaf Moghadam, The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, SalafiJihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008). Paperback edition published in 2011.
Assaf Moghadam and Brian Fishman, eds., Fault Lines in Global Jihad: Organizational, Strategic, and Ideological Fissures (London and New York: Routledge, 2011).
Assaf Moghadam, ed., Militancy in Shiism: Trends and Patterns (London and New York: Routledge, 2011).
Assaf Moghadam, The Roots of Terrorism (New York: Chelsea House, 2006).
Assaf Moghadam and Michel Wyss, "The Rise of Non-State Sponsors," International Security 44.4 (Spring 2020)
Assaf Moghadam and Michel Wyss, "Of Anti-Zionists and Antideutsche: The Post-War German Left and its Relationship with Israel," Democracy and Security 14.4 (2018)
Assaf Moghadam, Ronit Berger, and Polina Beliakova, "Say Terrorist, Think Insurgent: Labeling and Conceptualizing Contemporary Terrorist Actors," Perspectives on Terrorism 8.5 (October 2014)
Assaf Moghadam, “How Al Qaeda Innovates,” Security Studies 22.3 (Jul-Sep 2013)
Assaf Moghadam, “Failure and Disengagement in the Red Army Faction,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 35.2 (February 2012)
“Motives for Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Spread of Suicide Attacks,” International Security 33.3 (Winter 2008/2009).
“Suicide Terrorism, Occupation, and the Globalization of Martyrdom: A Critique of ‘Dying to Win,’” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 29.8 (December 2006).
“Palestinian Suicide Terrorism in the Second Intifada: Motivations and Organizational Aspects,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 26.2 (February/March 2003)
Colin P. Clarke and Assaf Moghadam, "Mapping Today’s Jihadi Landscape and Threat,” Orbis, Vol. 62, No. 3 (Summer 2018)
Assaf Moghadam, "Marriage of Convenience: The Evolution of Al Qaeda and Iran's Tactical Cooperation," CTC Sentinel 10.3 (April 2017)
Assaf Moghadam, “The Evolution of Suicide Terrorism and its Implications for Research,” in Natasha Bajema, Russell Howard, and Reid Sawyer, eds. Terrorism and Counterterrorism, 3rd Edition (McGraw Hill, 2008)
Assaf Moghadam, "The Jihadist Entrepreneur: What the Anjem Choudary Case Can Teach Us," War on the Rocks, September 15, 2016
Assaf Moghadam, “Suicide Terrorism,” in George H. Gilliam and Cristina Lopez-Gottardi Chao, eds., Intelligence Gathering, Analysis and Dissemination (Charlottesville, VA: Miller Center of Public Affairs, 2009)
Assaf Moghadam, "Why Terrorist Actors Cooperate," Political Violence @ a Glance, May 26, 2017
Assaf Moghadam and Michel Wyss, “Five Myths of Sponsor-Proxy Relations,” Lawfare, December 16, 2018.
Bill Braniff and Assaf Moghadam, "Towards Global Jihadism: Al-Qaeda's Strategic, Ideological and Structural Adaptations since 9/11," Perspectives on Terrorism 5.2 (May 2011)
“The Salafi Jihad as a Religious Ideology,” CTC Sentinel 1.3 (February 2008).
Bill Braniff and Assaf Moghadam, “Towards Global Jihadism” in Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, Gordon Clubb, and Simon Mabon, eds. Terrorism and Political Violence (London: Sage, 2015)
“Shifting Trends in Suicide Attacks,” CTC Sentinel 2.1 (January 2009).
Bill Braniff and Assaf Moghadam, “Al-Qaeda's Post-9/11 Evolution,” in Russell Howard and Bruce Hoffman, eds. Terrorism and Counterterrorism, 5th Edition (McGraw Hill, 2011)
Assaf Moghadam, “Suicide Terrorism” in Andrew Silke, ed. Routledge Handbook of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2018)
“Mayhem, Myths, and Martyrdom: The Shi'a Conception of Jihad,” Terrorism and Political Violence 19.1 (Spring 2007).
“The Roots of Suicide Terrorism: A Multi-Causal Approach,” in Ami Pedahzur, ed. Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism: The Globalization of Martyrdom (London: Routledge, 2006).
“Defining Suicide Terrorism,” in Ami Pedahzur, ed. Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism: The Globalization of Martyrdom (London: Routledge, 2006).