US and Canada move up on the terrorism threat index
2014 and thus far in 2015, have been marked by a dramatic increase in terrorist incidents and in the number of countries that have been pulled into terrorist activity and for which financial institutions have been used for terrorist financing. Western countries are becoming less safe, as they increasingly become targets of terrorist attacks, or attempted attacks. They are also being used more than ever before as a breeding ground to radicalize terrorists in the West over social media (see the “Twitter Terrorist” for more) to defect and to undertake domestic lone wolf attacks.
Canada, for example, now ranks 35th globally on the country terrorism threat index released on July 5, 2015, ahead of (more of a risk than) Mexico, the Palestinian Territories, Thailand, and Sierra Leone. China ranks 36th and Turkey ranks 34th. Spain, which ranks 33rd, just issued a “maximum alert” for terrorism saying that the country was at the same level of terrorism risk as the Madrid attacks in 2004.
The US now ranks 17th under the country terrorism threat index. According to the US Committee on Homeland Security, since early 2014, there have been 47 planned or executed terrorists plots against Western targets, including 11 inside the US that were inspired by ISIS. Moreover, there have been more ISIS-linked plots against Western targets in the first half of 2015 (28 thus far), compared to all of 2014, in which there were 19. The number of “home grown” terrorist plots have tripled in the US in the past five years.
The country threat index is an artificial intelligence created risk assessment based on numerous inputs including messages from terrorist groups and injuries and threats that have occurred. It is created by the Intel Center Database and is updated in 30-day increments.
High risk generally for terrorist attacks
Countries in which there is a high risk of a terrorist attack, and terrorist financing, include:
- Syria
- Iraq
- Nigeria
- Somalia
- Tunisia
- Yemen
- Libya
- Afghanistan
- Pakistan
- Ukraine
- Egypt
Terrorist safe havens for financing and illegal movements
Terrorist safe havens are pockets within countries where terrorist affiliates offer safe haven services (financing, terrorist banking, passage of terrorists, fake identity, movement of other people and goods illegally). They are  at risk for terrorist financing and commercial and immigration fraud, as well as money laundering. According to the US Committee on Homeland Security, the key safe havens for terrorist organizations, and of concern for fraud and terrorist financing, are as follows:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Egypt
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Libya
- Lebanon
- Nigeria
- Palestinian Territories
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Russia (North Caucasus)
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tunisia
- Yemen
High risk for terrorist attacks on tourists in select locations
According to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the following are high risk in certain locales for terrorist attacks that may affect tourists:
- UK
- France
- Thailand
- Spain
- Israel
- Australia
- Lebanon
- Indonesia
High risk for terrorist attacks at hotels
According to the Intel Center Database, the following are the countries with the highest incidents of hotel terrorist attacks in 2015:
- Somalia
- Libya
- Afghanistan
- Yemen
- Tunisia
- Kenya
- Columbia
- Egypt
- Iraq
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