Graig Klein
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. G.R.E. Klein
- Telephone
- +31 70 800 9506
- g.r.e.klein@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-1745-6712
Graig Klein is an Assistant Professor in Terrorism and Political Violence at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs. His research explores the instrumentality of political violence and how dissident–government interactions affect tactical and strategic evolution, conflict processes, and international and national security – primarily protests and terrorism. He leads the ERC-funded project TERGAP, which focuses on how non-state actors adapt their violent tactics in response to government behaviour and new opportunities to recruit both non-violent and violent activists. He teaches in the Crisis and Security Master’s Programme.
More information about Graig Klein
News and media
-
From theory to diplomacy: MIRD students present final thesis -
ISGA researchers featured in international media -
Joana Cook and Graig Klein Awarded Google Trust & Safety Research Grant -
Innovating terrorism with AI -
Graig Klein awarded an ERC Starting Grant -
ERC Starting Grants for seven Leiden researchers
Research output
-
Sentiment Shifts and a New Approach to Strategic Narratives Analysis: Russian Rhetoric on Ukraine -
The Buffalo attack – An analysis of the manifesto -
Focusdata: Foreign Policy through Language and Sentiment -
Refugees, Perceived Threat & Domestic Terrorism -
Strategic Interaction of Governments and Terrorist Groups in Times of Economic Hardship -
Presidential use of diversionary drone force and public support
PhD candidates
See also
Research projcet
Craig Klein is an Assistant Professor in Terrorism and Political Violence at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs. His research explores the instrumentality of political violence and how dissident–government interactions affect tactical and strategic evolution, conflict processes, and international and national security – primarily protests and terrorism. He leads the ERC-funded project TERGAP, focusing on how non-state actors adapt their violent tactics in response to government behaviour and new opportunities to recruit both non-violent and violent activists. He teaches in the Crisis and Security Master’s Programme.
Craig is currently leading an ERC Starting Grant project, TERGAP, collecting new counterterrorism data to test theories of terrorist group strategic decision-making and adaptive violence. He is also Co-Investigator on a Google-funded project exploring extremist and terrorist use of artificial intelligence (AI) and potential counter-measures. His research has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals, presented to senior government and security leadership, including NATO, U.S. Northern Command, and NORAD, and he has been an invited guest multiple times on BBC Radio and BBC World News. You can learn more about Craig’s research on his website (www.craigklein.com).
Prior to joining ISGA, Craig was an Assistant Professor of Security Studies at New Jersey City University, where he helped establish his department as an Intelligence Community Centre for Academic Excellence, funded by a U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency grant. The grant also funded the development of the FOCUSdata Project, designed to analyse how a country’s official media and foreign ministry communications interact with kinetic actions. Craig has also served as an Academic Principal Investigator for the World Bank. He has studied and conducted fieldwork in Egypt and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Craig holds a PhD in Political Science from Binghamton University and an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University.
Assistant professor
- Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs
- Institute of Security and Global Affairs
- Klein G.R.E. (2025), Comparative Counterterrorism Project (CCTP) dataset version 1.0 (data file and codebook). Harvard Dataverse. [dataset].
- Klein Graig G.R.E. (2025), Comparative counterterrorism: all for one, but not one for all. In: Dutta S, Abbas T. & Bergh S.I. (Eds.), Global counter-terrorism: a decolonial approach. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Cascone G., Klein G.R., Tokdemir E., Gregg H., Charles M.H., Boz Z., Demirtas B., Ashraf A., Olech A., Egeli S., Beckman C., Kaygusuz A., Clarke C.P., Sadik G., Nyary G., Ercil Y. & Ayhan H.S. (2025), Terrorism Experts Conference & DAT Executive Level Seminar Report. Ankara, Turkey: NATO - Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT).
- Alparone D., Kantorowicz J. & Klein G. R. (2025), Comparative Public Attitudes about Drone Strikes: Survey Experiments in Italy, Poland, and Germany, Foreign Policy Analysis 21(2): oraf003.
- Pupcenoks J., Fisher S. & Klein G.R.E. (2024), Sentiment shifts and a new approach to strategic narratives analysis: Russian rhetoric on Ukraine, Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 32(1): 85-112.
- Fisher S., Klein G.R.E., Codjo J. & Pupcenoks J. (2024), Answering authoritarian state asymmetric state challenges: tools for deterring hybrid threats and non-military coercion from China and Russia, Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs (July-August): 53-77.
- Klein G.R.E. (13 June 2024), Terrorism as a strategy of retribution. The Hague, Netherlands: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. [web article].
- Klein G.R. (1 October 2024), Counter-terrorism targeted killing of Hassan Nasrallah: is Hezbollah weaker?. The Hague, Netherlands: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. [web article].
- Klein G.R.E. & Boddery S. (24 May 2023), Turkey’s Erdoğan took a page from US presidents and boosted reelection campaign by claiming to have killed a terrorist: The Conversation. [web article].
- Abbas T., Bolaños Somoano I.B.S., Cook J.L.I., Frens I.J., Klein G.R.E. & McNeil R. (18 May 2022), The buffalo attack: an analysis of the manifesto. The Hague: International centre for counter-terrorism. [web article].
- Klein G.R.E. (10 February 2022), The leader of ISIS is dead, but are targeted killings effective?. The Hague: International centre for counter-terrorism. [web article].
- Pupcenoks J. & Klein G.R.E. (5 April 2022), Using lies and disinformation, Putin and his team have been building the case for a Ukraine invasion for 14 years: The conversation. [web article].
- Pupcenoks J. & Klein G.R.E. (9 March 2022), First Georgia, then Ukraine: how Russian propaganda justifies invasions. Ethics & international affairs: The journal of carnegie council for ethics in international affairs (Carnegie council for ethics in international affairs). [blog entry].
- Fisher S., Klein G.R. & Codjo J. (2022), Focusdata: foreign policy through language and sentiment, Foreign Policy Analysis 18(2): orac002.
- Klein G.R.E. (13 December 2021), Reframing threats from migrants in Europe. The Hague: International centre for counter-terrorism. [web article].
- Fisher S. & Klein G.R.E. (2021), Iranian ministry of foreign affairs English data. [database].
- Boddery S.S. & Klein G.R. (2021), Presidential use of diversionary drone force and public support, Research and Politics : 1-7.
- Tokdemir E. & Klein G.R.E. (2021), Strategic interaction of governments and terrorist groups in times of economic hardship, Defence and Peace Economics 32(6): 742-756.
- Klein G.R., Cuesta J. & Chagalj C. (2021), The Nicaragua protest crisis in 2018–2019: assessing the logic of government responses to protests, Journal of Politics in Latin America : .
- Klein G.R. (2021), Refugees, perceived threat & domestic terrorism, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism : 1-26.
- Fisher S & Klein G.R.E. (2020), Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency Articles from 22 Dec. 2011 to 15 Feb. 2020. [database].
- Fisher S. & Klein G.R.E. (2020), Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) articles from Oct. 2008 - Feb. 2020. [database].
- Fisher S. & Klein G.R.E. (2020), Rodong Sinmun Articles from Jan 2018 - Dec. 2019. [database].
- Farrer B. & Klein G.R.E. (12 December 2019), Environmental direct action may be forgiven by voters if they can see that conventional politics are not working. London school of economics – US Centre (USAPP): London school of economics. [blog entry].
- Farrer B. & Klein G.R. (2019), How radical environmental sabotage impacts US elections, Terrorism and Political Violence : .
- Klein G.R. & Regan P.M. (2018), Dynamics of political protests, International Organization 72(2): 485-521.
- Farrer B. & Klein G.R.E. (2 November 2017), Words and deeds: electoral success for greens in the US leads to less environmental sabotage. Democratic audit: London school of economics. [blog entry].
- Farrer B & Klein G.R.E. (1 November 2016), Will next week’s U.S. elections lead to violence?: Here’s what environmental extremists can teach us. The monkey cage: Washington post. [blog entry].
- Klein G.R. & Tokdemir E. (2016), Domestic diversion: selective targeting of minority out-groups, Conflict Management and Peace Science 36(1): 20-41.
- Klein G.R. (2016), Ideology isn't everything: transnational terrorism, recruitment incentives, and attack casualties, Terrorism and Political Violence 28(5): 868-887.
- Farrer B. & Klein G.R. (2016), The political roots of domestic environmental sabotage, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 27(2): 133-155.
- Klein G.R.E. (18 November 2015), These two reasons explain why the Islamic State attacked France now. The monkey cage: Washington post. [blog entry].