CTEC
@ctecmiis.bsky.social
Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Find us here: https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec
Very excited to join the @rusi.bsky.social and its Centre For Finance and Security team as an Associate Fellow. I’ve had the chance to collaborate with RUSI on several occasions, and I’m especially looking forward to working more closely with the CFS team. www.rusi.org/people/blaza...
Jason Blazakis
Royal United Services Institute
rusi.org
Congrats to Dylan Miars, CTEC's Fall 2026 Michael Donnelly Research Fellow!! His research asks how quantum computing changes the calculus for non-state actors pursuing advanced weapons capabilities. Learn more about Dylan and the Donnelly Fellowship: www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac...
Can terrorist financing ever be stopped? CTEC's @jason-blazakis.bsky.social joined Tom Keatinge on @rusi.bsky.social Suspicious Transaction Report #podcast. 🎧 www.rusi.org/podcasts/sus...
Episode 23: Can Terrorist Financing Ever Be Stopped?
Why disruption, intelligence and genuine public–private partnership matter more than promises to eliminate every terrorist dollar.
rusi.org
I'm in today's @washingtonpost.com on Rubio's #antifa push. I ran State's designation process for a decade+. A group must be foreign to be designated. Antifa's domestic presence puts it out of reach. Counterterrorism authority should track threats, not politics www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil
The secretary of state plans to convene foreign ministers in Washington next week. The event has unsettled some U.S. and European officials.
washingtonpost.com
CTEC Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social in today's @washingtonpost.com: #antifa cannot be designated a foreign terrorist organization. US law requires a group be foreign, and a significant domestic presence disqualifies it. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil
The secretary of state plans to convene foreign ministers in Washington next week. The event has unsettled some U.S. and European officials.
washingtonpost.com
CTEC's @jason-blazakis.bsky.social is quoted in @inkstickmedia.com on the Prairieland "Antifa cell" case out of Fort Worth. He warns of the chilling effect on speech. inkstickmedia.com/antifa-trial...
'Antifa Trial' in Texas Heightens Fears of Free Speech Chill in US
Will the outcome of a controversial trial against protesters accused of being Antifa lead to a chill on free speech in the US?
inkstickmedia.com
I have a piece in @wsj.com today on emerging threat: movements that worship Artificial Intelligence (#AI). www.wsj.com/opinion/chat...
Opinion | Chatbots May Need a Cult Deprogrammer
Some users mistake AI for a god, while the violent Zizians believe it is the devil.
wsj.com
AI is no longer just a tool to these movements. It is a god, a prophet, or a coming revelation. CTEC Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social Blazakis maps the rise of AI-deity extremism. Read more @wsj.com : www.wsj.com/opinion/chat...
Opinion | Chatbots May Need a Cult Deprogrammer
Some users mistake AI for a god, while the violent Zizians believe it is the devil.
wsj.com
In the Frisco mayoral runoff, one candidate has declared Muslim residents unwelcome. CTEC Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social told @keranews.org News that divisive rhetoric from higher offices emboldens local officials to do the same. www.keranews.org/news/2026-06...
Comments about Muslim community a factor in Frisco mayoral runoff
Early voting in the Frisco mayor runoff between Mark Hill and Rod Vilhauer starts Monday. Vilhauer's anti-Muslim statements have generated controversy during the race.
keranews.org
In a @justsecurity.org piece, CTEC Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social Blazakis argues #Cuba shouldn't be on the terrorism list & Rubio's "leading sponsor" of terror framing is rhetorical scaffolding for possible force, same playbook as #Iran and #Venezuela. www.justsecurity.org/140246/trump...
Trump Administration Labels Cuba State Sponsor of Terrorism
Cuba’s inclusion on the SST list reflects shifting U.S. policy, not evidence, highlighting how the designation is used for political aims.
justsecurity.org
As always, appreciate the chance to write for @justsecurity.org. Check out my latest piece on #Cuba - BLUF - invading Cuba using the pretext of counterterrorism, as #Trump Admin has been pointing to, is the wrong approach. www.justsecurity.org/140246/trump...
Trump Administration Labels Cuba State Sponsor of Terrorism
Cuba’s inclusion on the SST list reflects shifting U.S. policy, not evidence, highlighting how the designation is used for political aims.
justsecurity.org
Yesterday, CTEC Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social shared his thoughts on recent Trump Admin policies in the area of illicit finance. Check it out: www.hstoday.us/subject-matt...
PERSPECTIVE: A Quarter Century of Counterterrorism Finance, Unwound in a Year - HSToday
Counterterrorism financing was never glamorous work.
hstoday.us
CTEC Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social is at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social on June 8 at 6pm BST for a book talk on Terror Disrupted: Countering the Financing of Terrorism. Open to the public. www.kcl.ac.uk/events/book-...
Book Talk: Terror Disrupted: Countering the Financing of Terrorism with Prof Jason M. Blazakis | King's College London
Terrorism and organised violence are crucially reliant on adequate sources of funding
kcl.ac.uk
CTEC Executive Director, @jason-blazakis.bsky.social, joined Kieran Beer on ACAMS's Financial Crime Matters podcast at #ACAMSAssembly for a wide-ranging conversation on the threat landscape facing the U.S. — Iran, ISIS, AQ, and more. soundcloud.com/financialcri...
Disrupting Terror Finance, with the Middlebury Institute's Jason Blazakis
In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Jason Blazakis about his book,
soundcloud.com
CTEC's @jason-blazakis.bsky.social joins Middlebury's New Frontiers podcast to discuss who ends up on US terrorist lists, what designation actually means for those listed, and why recent procedural shifts under the Trump admin raise serious risk-of-abuse concerns. www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn/new-...
S4 EP5 - US Terrorist Lists: Who Decides and Why It Matters | Middlebury
In this episode, Mark Williams speaks with counter-terrorist expert Jason Blazakis, founding director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism about how individuals or groups can wi...
middlebury.edu
Recently, CTEC Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social spoke to the Monterey community at MIIS on the topic of "Branding the Enemy," drawing from Chapter 6 of his new book Terror Disrupted (Cambridge, 2026).
New CTEC paper from grad researcher Satyajit Lall on the financial architecture that has kept Lashkar-e-Tayyiba alive for nearly 40 years—through sanctions, FATF scrutiny, and shifting geopolitics. www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac...
CTEC Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social is now part of the GTSC Homeland Security Today Counterterrorism Editorial Board
CTEC publication: "How Hamas Monetized the Gaza War" argues that counter-terrorist financing doctrine overlooks narrative production as a targetable node in the raise phase. The paper traces how Hamas converted conflict imagery into financial capital. www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac...
A new paper I have published through @ctecmiis.bsky.social examines the full U.S. designation record against #Hamas linked charities (2003 to 2026) and proposes two structures to break the cycle of episodic enforcement. www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac... #sanctions #terrorism #Iran
The Charities of Hamas – Designations History and Policy Recommendations
It has now been more than two years since Hamas’s deadly attack in Israel. As someone who worked for more than a decade in the United States Government (USG) as head of the State Department’s Countert...
middlebury.edu
New from CTEC: Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social examines two decades of U.S. sanctions against Hamas-linked charities. The record reveals bursts of sanctions followed by long silences in which Hamas rebuilt Read the paper: www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac... #Hamas #Iran #Terrorism
The Charities of Hamas – Designations History and Policy Recommendations
It has now been more than two years since Hamas’s deadly attack in Israel. As someone who worked for more than a decade in the United States Government (USG) as head of the State Department’s Countert...
middlebury.edu
CTEC Exec Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social joined @npr.org on the Texas “#antifa” case tied to the July 4 protest outside the Prairieland ICE facility near Alvarado. Takeaway: serious incident, but the “antifa cell” framing is a stretch. Listen in: www.npr.org/transcripts/...
Rev. Jesse Jackson has died. And, U.S. and Iran set for high-stakes nuclear talks
Longtime civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at age 84. And, the U.S. and Iran are set for high-stakes negotiations today in Geneva about Iran's nuclear program.
npr.org
CTEC shoutout: @npr.org / @oyousef.bsky.social referenced J.M. Berger’s “lawful extremism” work—how extremist-coded rhetoric can migrate into state messaging with plausible deniability. www.npr.org/2026/02/16/n...
Extremist rhetoric is often found in government messaging. Who's the target?
In a rare move, the White House recently took down a racist post from one of President Trump's social media accounts. Extremism researchers say it fits a pattern of mainstreaming extremist ideas.
npr.org
Thrilled to announce Noor Almusahwi as our next Michael Donnelly Fellow (Spring 2026). Noor brings deep experience on human rights and digital security—paired with rigorous research on terrorism, political violence, and rule of law. Congrats, Noor! www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac...
New @rusi.bsky.social research briefing by CTEC’s @jason-blazakis.bsky.social on #LLM enabled #terrorist #financing: risks, real-world pathways, and practical mitigations. www.projectcraaft.eu/research-bri...
Terrorist Financing in the Age of Large Language Models — Project CRAAFT
The research briefing by Jason Blazakis examines how advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) could be exploited to support terrorist financing activity. The report ar...
projectcraaft.eu
Recently, CTEC Exec Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social published w/ @universitypress.cambridge.org Terror Disrupted. A book that examines how terrorist financing is countered. www.cambridge.org/core/books/t...
In a recent NYSun piece on Mahmood Habibi, CTEC Exec Director Jason Blazakis explains why public pressure can matter more with a de facto government like the Taliban than with ISIS—and outlines U.S. leverage: frozen assets, recognition, and UN sanctions, incl. Qatar as a key intermediary.
CTEC just released a new report, Seeds of Extremism, by Isabela Bernardo. It examines how ecofascist ideas can intersect with accelerationist culture—and what that means for prevention and policy. Thanks to the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative for support. www.middlebury.edu/institute/ac...
Seeds of Extremism: Ecofascism and Militant Accelerationism in a Warming World
As Executive Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC), I’m pleased to share Seeds of Extremism: Ecofascism and Militant Accelerationism in a Warming World—a timely, rigo...
middlebury.edu
CTEC Senior Research Fellow Tammy Palacios joined Sham TV regarding recent attacks in Australia and at Brown U. She explained that recent attacks aren't coordinated—they're symptoms of de-prioritized counterterrorism. We need renewed focus on P/CVE. www.youtube.com/watch?v=He_N...
Late last week, CTEC Executive Director @jason-blazakis.bsky.social chatted with @ms.now about the recent attack in Washington DC. He explained that it was way too early to call it an act of terrorism and that reflexive policy responses by the Trump Administration would be unhelpful.
Jason Blazakis@jason-blazakis.bsky.social · 10mo agoAppreciated the chance to join late last week @msnownews.bsky.social to discuss the tragic attack in DC. I was very clear that we lacked any evidence that this was “terrorism” - a far too often used word to describe violence.
