COLUMNS

Grassroots Terrorism in 2017: A Small but Stubborn Threat

Jan 19, 2017 | 08:00 GMT

Rescue workers tend to injured bystanders after a truck plowed through a Christmas market in Berlin on Dec. 20, 2016.
Rescue workers tend to injured bystanders after a truck plowed through a Christmas market in Berlin on Dec. 20, 2016.

(MICHELE TANTUSSI/Getty Images)

For the past two weeks we have discussed the opportunities and challenges facing al Qaeda and the Islamic State in the year ahead. As we examined these groups, we largely focused on their core leaders and franchises. But both jihadist organizations seek to inspire grassroots terrorists around the world as well, and though they have recently seen many setbacks, their calls to action will not go unanswered....