Jeffrey M. Bale, Ph.D.
Research Director

Jeffrey M. Bale is Research Director of the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies. He is also a Senior Researcher and Assistant Professor in the Terrorism Research and Studies Program (TRSP), a research center and curricular component of the Graduate School of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where he teaches a variety of courses on extremism and terrorism (including “Introduction to Terrorism,” “Militant Islamic Organizations,” “The Radical Right since 1945,” “WMD Terrorism”, and “Advanced Studies in Terrorism”).

Dr. Bale obtained his B.A. in Middle Eastern and Central Asian History at the University of Michigan , his M.A. in Social Movements and Political Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Contemporary European History at Berkeley . He has taught at Berkeley , Columbia University , and the University of California at Irvine and was the recipient of postdoctoral fellowships from the Society of Fellows in the Humanities at Columbia , the Office of Scholarly Programs at the Library of Congress, and the Center for German and European Studies at Berkeley . He reads numerous European languages and has also studied the Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish languages.

Dr. Bale has been studying extremist and terrorist groups for nearly two decades - long before it suddenly became “fashionable” in the wake of the catastrophic al-Qa`ida attacks of 11 September 2001 - and has published numerous articles on terrorism, right-wing extremism, Islamism, and covert operations. His recent publications include a review of Janja Lalich's Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults in [the Consortium for Political Research's] e-Extreme Newsletter 6:3 (Fall 2005); “[The Ideology of] Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines,” in Walter Laqueur, ed., Voices of Terror: Manifestos , Writings and Manuals of Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Other Terrorists from Around the World and Throughout the Ages (New York: Reed, 2004); articles on “Ba`thism,” “ODESSA,” “Michael Kühnen,” and “Skinhead Fascism” in Cyprian Blamires, ed., Historical Encyclopedia of World Fascism (Santa Monica: ABC-Clio, 2005); articles on “Islamism,” “Abu Sayyaf Group,” and “Christian Identity” in Richard F. Pilch and Raymond A. Zilinskas, eds., Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense (New York: Wiley & Sons, 2005); an article on “CBW: South Africa” in Jeffrey A. Larsen, James J. Wirtz, and Eric Croddy, eds., Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History (Santa Monica: ABC-Clio, 2005); “The Islamization of the Chechen Resistance Movement and the Potential for Radiological Terrorism,” Nuclear Threat Initiative Issue Brief , April 2004; “Fascism and Neo-Fascism: Ideology and ‘Groupuscularity,'” and “Still More on Fascist and Neo-Fascist Ideology and ‘Groupuscularity,'” Erwägen Wissen Ethik 15:3 (October-November 2004); “Ricin Found in London: An al-Qa`ida Connection?,” Center for Nonproliferation Studies Report, 23 January 2003 ; and “National Revolutionary Groupuscules and the Resurgence of ‘Left-Wing' Fascism: The Case of France's Nouvelle Résistance,” Patterns of Prejudice 36:3 (July 2002).

Dr. Bale is currently in the process of preparing several new articles and book reviews, updating a large book manuscript on neo-fascist terrorist networks in Cold War Europe (which is provisionally entitled The Other “ Terror Network”: The Secret Cold War and European Right-Wing Terrorism ), co-editing a forthcoming volume on “ New Religious Movements ” and Extremist Politics , and gathering primary and secondary source materials for two new monographs, one on Islamist terrorist and support networks operating in Europe, and the other on what appear to be growing links between dissident left- and right-wing radicals in the West and globally-oriented jihadists. He frequently gives presentations at academic conferences and institutions and also serves periodically as a consultant for government agencies, including the intelligence community, on matters related to terrorism and extremism.

Dr. Bale is particularly interested in terrorist ideologies, motivations, organizational structures, and operational techniques, and has special expertise on European neo-fascist groups, Islamist networks, apocalyptic millenarian religious cults, the American far right, and countercultural youth movements (largely by virtue of having been personally involved for many years in a succession of them).