Taming the solo terrorist

Last year saw a wave of lone-actor terrorist attacks take place across Europe. In all likelihood, 2017 will be no different. As the Islamic State group continues to lose territory in Syria and Iraq, inspiring lone-actor attacks will become its first priority. Despite the logistical problems that ‘lone actors’ present to police and policy-makers, more can and should be done to prevent and mitigate their impact. The term ‘lone-actor terrorism’ is highly contested. It is generally used to describe the act of a single perpetrator or small cell that executes an attack in the name of a political or religious cause, without financial or material support from a group.