Quick Facts
Biography
Brian Michael Jenkins, born in 1942 in Chicago, is an expert on terrorism and transportation security. During his nearly four decades of analysis, Jenkins has advised governments, private corporations, the Catholic Church, and the Church of England on terrorist threats.
Jenkins joined the United States Army at 19. He served with the 7th Special Forces Group in the Dominican Republic and with the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam. He subsequently served as a civilian with the Long Range Planning Task Group advising General Creighton Abrams, commander of military operations in Vietnam.
From 1989 to 1998 he was deputy chairman of security firm Kroll Associates.
Jenkins is the author of many books, including Unconquerable Nation (2006) and Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? (2008).
Brian Jenkins currently serves as Senior Advisor to the President of the RAND Corporation and Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute's Transportation Security Center. He also served as a member of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, 1996–97 and as an advisor to the National Commission on Terrorism, 2000. He has served as an advisor to the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other government agencies.
Jenkins is featured in the 1980 documentary about the Vietnam War, Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War.
Quotes
- "Terrorism is theater" (1974)
- "Terrorists want a lot of people watching, not a lot of people dead" (1975)