Experts on violent extremism, terrorism to discuss rise of ISIS, March 24

Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger, two of America’s leading experts on violent extremism and terrorism, will discuss their book, "ISIS: The State of Terror," from 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 24 at a National Press Club Book Rap in the First Amendment Lounge.

Registration is required. Tickets are $5 for Club members; $10 for the public. This event is a fundraiser for the NPC Journalism Institute. No outside books for memorabilia. All sales are final.

Drawing on their unusual access to intelligence sources and material, law enforcement, and groundbreaking research into open source intelligence, Stern and Berger explain the genesis, evolution and implications of the terror group known as ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — and how the United States and its allies can fight it.

The world has never witnessed the degree of brutality demonstrated by ISIS. Its sophisticated use of social media, acquisition of territory and ability to attract foreign fighters, many from modern Western democracies, is unprecedented.

"ISIS: The State of Terror" offers ideas on potential government responses, emphasizing that we must alter our present conceptions of terrorism and terrorists and react to the rapidly changing jihadi landscape, both online and off, as quickly as the terrorists do.

About the authors:
Jessica Stern is a lecturer on terrorism at Harvard University and a fellow at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard's School of Public Health. She is a member of the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law, and served on the Clinton administration's National Security Council staff. She is the author of "Denial: A Memoir of Terror"; "Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill" (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year) and "The Ultimate Terrorists."

J.M. Berger is the author of "Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam," a critically acclaimed history of the American jihadist movement, and editor of "Beatings and Bureaucracy: The Founding Memos of al Qaeda." He is a regular contributor to Foreign Policy magazine, and his website, Intelwire.com, has published thousands of declassified documents on the September 11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing.