J.M. Berger

John M. Berger (born 1967) is an American academic and former investigative journalist who writes on extremism and terrorism. He has a PhD in criminology from the Swansea University School of Law. Berger is a senior research fellow at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism and has served as a consultant for government agencies and tech companies. He has written three books on the subjects of extremism and terrorism, including ISIS: The State of Terror (with Jessica Stern) and Jihad Joe.

Education and career John M. Berger was born in 1967. He is the creator of the investigative journalism site Intelwire, and was also involved in the making of several documentary films. He has published both journalistic and academic works,

Berger has a PhD in criminology from the Swansea University School of Law. He is a senior research fellow at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC) of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and an associate fellow of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. He has also served as a consultant for tech companies and government agencies on terrorism and extremism related issues. He was on the Independent Advisory Committee of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.

Berger was one of four outside researchers who collaborated with the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy on the Hamilton 68 dashboard, alongside Clint Watts, Andrew Weisburd, and Jonathon Morgan. Berger authored the dashboard's methodology paper.

Works His first book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, was published in 2011 by Potomac Books. It covers homegrown jihadism in the United States. and listed it as a work of notable nonfiction for that year. Foreign Affairs listed it as one of the best books of 2015.

In 2018 he wrote Extremism for MIT Press, as part of their Essential Knowledge Series. The book gives an introduction to extremism as a concept and an analysis of it and its manifestations.

In 2020 he published his debut fiction novel, Optimal.