About Fernando

Fernando Reinares is Professor of Political Science and Security Studies at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, as well as Distinguished Research Associate at Elcano Royal Institute, both in Madrid. He is also Wilson Center Global Fellow and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, in Washington, DC. He was the first President of the Expert Group on Violent Radicalization of the European Commission (2007-2009) and served as Senior Adviser for Antiterrorist Policy at Spain’s Minister of the Interior (2004-2006). Among other academic and civilian distinctions, Professor has received from the Spanish authorities the Cross of Military Merit (2009), the Cross of Police Merit (2012), and the highest personal decoration of the regional Government of his native La Rioja region of Spain for “outstanding contribution to the fight against terrorism and in defense of the principles of democracy” (2016). He was likewise granted a national prize of Criminology (2022). His books include Patriotas de la Muerte. Quiénes han militado en ETA y por qué(Madrid: Taurus, 2001, 2011), a seminal study on why young Basque nationalists joined the terrorist organization ETA; also Al Qaeda’s Revenge: The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), a study of the 11 March 2004 or 3/11 attacks in Madrid - the deadliest jihadist attacks in Europe yet - praised by The Economist as “an impressive piece of research” and by Foreign Affairs as “a must-read for counterterrorism authorities and concerned citizens alike.” The Association of 3/11 Terrorism Victims awarded professor Reinares the Prize for Memory and Peace in 2022 in honor of his research on the attacks.