Steven Emerson

Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson is considered one of the leading authorities on Islamic extremist networks, financing and operations. He serves as the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, a non-profit organization that serves one of the world's largest storehouses of archival data and intelligence on Islamic and Middle Eastern terrorist groups. Emerson and his staff frequently provide briefings to U.S. government and law enforcement agencies, members of Congress and congressional committees, and print and electronic media on terrorist financing and operational networks of Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the rest of the worldwide Islamic militant spectrum. Since 9-11, Emerson has been interviewed frequently on all the major television networks and in the national and international print media. The website of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, which was started in September 2007, is now considered one of the top counter-terrorism websites in the world and can be accessed at www.investigativeproject.org. Emerson launched The Investigative Project on Terrorism in 1995, following the November 1994 broadcast of his documentary film, "Jihad in America," on public television. The film exposed clandestine operations of militant Islamic terrorist groups on American soil. For the film, Emerson received numerous awards including the George Polk Award for best television documentary, one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. He also received the top prize from the Investigative Reporters and Editors Organization (IRE) for best investigative report in both print and television for the documentary. The award from IRE was the fourth he had received from that group. The documentary, which was featured on 60 Minutes, has become standard viewing for federal law enforcement and intelligence organizations. Emerson is recognized as one of the first terrorism experts to have testified and warned about the threat of Islamic militant networks operating in the United States and their connections worldwide. In a pioneering congressional testimony delivered in 1998, he specifically warned about the threat of Osama Bin Laden's network. Nearly every one of the terrorist suspects and groups first identified in his 1994 film have been indicted, convicted, or deported since 9-11. Emerson is the author or co-author of six books on terrorism and national security, including: "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S." (Prometheus, 2006) "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us" (The Free Press, 2002) "Terrorist: The Inside Story of the Highest-Ranking Iraqi Terrorist Ever to Defect to the West" (Villard Books /Random House, 1991) "The Fall of Pan Am 103: Inside the Lockerbie Investigation" (Putnam's Sons, 1990) "Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era" (Putnam's Sons, 1988) "The American House of Saud: The Secret Petrodollar Connection" (Franklin Watts, 1985) Prior to starting the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Emerson worked as a correspondent for CNN and previously as a senior editor at US News and World Report. His first job in Washington DC in 1977 was as a staff researcher for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has a BA and MA from Brown University and once ran a marathon in 2 hours, 59 minutes, a feat he was never able to repeat again.

ARTICLES BY: Steven Emerson

July 8, 2011 5:21 pm

House Hearing: Hizballah Is Threat To U.S.

Hizballah has established a vast network of operatives throughout Latin America, and even in North America, which could be used to wage terrorist...

July 7, 2011 10:20 am

Radical Islamist Group Tries to Branch Out

One of America's most radical homegrown Islamist groups has opened two new centers focused on the "Zionist American" threat, a thinly-veiled reference to the group's...

June 30, 2011 3:44 pm

Flotilla Roster Portends Another Violent Clash

A flotilla is determined to sail to the Gaza Strip this weekend in breach of Israel's naval blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory. This decision comes in spite...

June 29, 2011 6:53 pm

Synagogue Bomb Plotters Sentenced to 25 Years

Three of four defendants convicted of plotting to detonate explosives next to N.Y. Jewish centers and shoot surface-to-air missiles at U.S. military planes were sentenced Wednesday to...

June 29, 2011 7:08 am

Brotherhood Assurances Not Backed by Track Record

Following a major split in the Muslim Brotherhood over elections, reports are emerging that the Brotherhood is much closer to its affiliate political party than...

June 25, 2011 11:56 pm

Revised FBI Guidelines Will Aid Terrorism Fight

Pending revisions to an FBI operations guide could help agents more quickly and aptly perform investigations, including counterterrorism-related inquires, according to former...

June 22, 2011 5:30 pm

CAIR Loses IRS Status

Donations to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) no longer are tax deductible after the organization was among 275,000 tax-exempt organizations purged earlier this month by...

June 21, 2011 2:59 pm

CAIR Taps Hezbollah Apologist for Tampa Office

For a group which claims to stand against terrorism, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) made an odd choice for the new chief of its...

June 21, 2011 11:37 am

Al-Qaida Leadership Reborn

Al-Qaida has announced that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former No. 2 of the organization, is the new permanent head of the organization. The announcement also functioned...

June 14, 2011 10:34 pm

Hearing Offers Eyewitness Accounts of Prison Radicalization

A former federal prosecutor and a former New York state prison official who investigated radical Islamist recruitment will discuss the threat of prison radicalization during a...

June 12, 2011 9:37 am

Jihadi Media Joins Facebook

Jihadi media organizations are forming Facebook pages to bypass restrictions on terrorist organizations, and to pass on videos, pictures, and documents to followers. While Facebook bansinciting...

June 6, 2011 11:22 am

Flotilla Organizers Vow to Defy International Pressure

Turkish organizers of a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel's embargo on Gaza vow to carry on despite growing international pressure to back off. United...

June 2, 2011 12:32 pm

Jihad in the Digital Age

Jihad has gone digital. Al-Qaida has long embraced the Internet and modern technology, but loosely-affiliated jihadists are hunting for new ways to fight the West in...

May 26, 2011 4:43 pm

Galloway Meets With Another Terrorist Group

George Galloway, the leader and founder of the UK-based group Viva Palestina, met with leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad while in Beirut, Lebanon this week, according to...