Broderick McDonald

Broderick McDonald's research focuses on countering global security threats from terrorism, extremism, and disinformation. Over the past decade, his work has covered both the online and offline aspects of these international security challenges using quantitative and qualitative methods ranging from computational social science, to behavioural science, and ethnographic fieldwork

Who is Broderick McDonald?

Broderick McDonald is an academic researcher at Oxford University, Kings College London, and The Alan Turing Institute with a decade of experience across government, academia, and civil society. Broderick's writing and commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Globe and Mail amongst others. Alongside his research, Broderick provides expert analysis for a range of international news broadcasters, including ABC News, BBC News, BBC America, CBC News, PBS, Good Morning America, France24, and Al Jazeera News.

Broderick McDonald is a Research Fellow at Kings College London's XCEPT Research Programme, a Research Associate at the Oxford Emerging Threats Group, and a Visiting Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute's Centre for Emerging Technology & Security (CETaS). Prior to this, he served as an Advisor in Parliament and as a researcher with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Genocide Prevention. Previously, he was a Fellow with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the Royal Society of the Arts. He has lived in the Middle East and conducted extensive interviews with armed combatants and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and combatants from ISIS, HTS, and other armed groups. Broderick has conducted fieldwork across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and organised Large-N quantitative and qualitative research projects. His research has been funded by the University of Oxford, the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), UK International Development, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Kings College London, and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He currently serves on the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)'s Independent Advisory Committee, the Aspen Institute UK's RLF Advisory Board, and the GLOCA Board of Advisors. Alongside his research, Broderick has advised government departments, NGOs, law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, international prosecutors, parliamentarians, AI Security Institutes, frontier AI labs, and social media companies on security threats and emerging technologies

Outside of this, Broderick is an Associate Member of the Global Network on Extremism & Technology (GNET), and the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN), and the All Tech is Human Responsible AI Working Group. He is a research affiliate of the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) at the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) and the TSAS Research Network. He was previously as Associate Fellow at Kings College London's International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) and a co-founder of the Oxford Disinformation & Extremism Lab (OxDEL). He holds an Master's Degree from the University of Cambridge where he was a Prime Minister Mackenzie King Scholar. Broderick was recently named as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and is an Associate Member of Chatham House in London.

Broderick McDonald speaking at the Oxford Generative AI Summit

Research Interests

Counter Terrorism & Violent Extremism

Terrorism and Violent Extremist Content (TVEC)
Classifier Models
AI Security
Mis/Disinformation
Hash-Sharing
Online Harms
Frontier AI/Narrow AI applications
Red Teaming
Benchmarks
Evals/Model Evaluations
Content Moderation
Trust & Safety
AI Safety
Researcher Safety

Geographic Focus: Europe and North America, Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, Sahel

Peace & Conflict

Insurgencies
Civil Wars
Inter Rebel Competition
Rebel Governance
Jihadist Proto-States
Micro-Dynamics of Conflict
Jihadist Rebels in Civil Conflict
Counterterrorism
Fieldwork Methods
Quantitative Surveys
In-Depth Interviews

Geographic Focus: Middle East and North Africa, Sahel, Central Asia

Recent Publications

Emerging Technologies & Terrorist Misuse (Book Chapter)

McDonald, Broderick, Naghim al-Karhili, Benjamin Mok, Lara Nonninger, and Guy Fiennes. In Routledge Handbook on Online Extremism, edited by Suraj Lakhani. New York: Routledge, forthcoming.

Terrorist and Extremist Exploitation of AI Systems: Emerging Threats and Technical Solutions

McDonald, Broderick (Oxford Disinformation & Extremism Lab)

Submission to the Home Affairs Committee Inquiry, UK House of Commons: Combatting New Forms of Extremism, June 2025.

AI-Enabled Terrorism: CBRN Threats (Book Chapter)

McDonald, Broderick and Lara Nonninger. In Encyclopedia of Terrorism and Counterterrorism Law, edited by Stuart MacDonald, 75–80. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming.

The Right Way to Engage With Syria’s New Rulers

Foreign Affairs

Nafees Hamid, Nils Mallock, Broderick McDonald, Rahaf Aldoughli

Access: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/right-way-engage-syrias-new-rulers-assad

The Long Road to Damascus: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Assad, and the Future of Syria

Just Security (New York University, Reiss Center on Law and Security)

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://www.justsecurity.org/106215/syria-assad-regime-what-next/

The Drones of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): The Development and Use of UAS in Syria

Global Network on Extremism and Technology, Kings College London

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://gnet-research.org/2024/12/20/the-drones-of-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-the-development-and-use-of-uas-in-syria/

A New Far-Right Threat to Democratic Elections

Al Jazeera

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/5/2/active-clubs-a-new-far-right-threat-to-democratic-elections

Tech Against Terrorism: Extremism, Elections, and Active Clubs

Tech Against Terrorism Podcast

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://podcast.techagainstterrorism.org/1684819/14864219-active-clubs-fitness-fraternity-and-fascism

The Use of Generative AI in Disinformation & Extremism

Oxford Disinformation & Extremism Lab (OxDEL)

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://www.oxdisinformationextremismlab.com/research/article/the-use-of-ai-in-disinformation-extremism-separating-fact-from-fiction

Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel: The Wagner Group's Growing Shadow

United States Military Academy at West Point (Modern War Institute)

Broderick McDonald, Guy Fiennes

Access: https://mwi.usma.edu/the-wagner-groups-growing-shadow-in-the-sahel-what-does-it-mean-for-counterterrorism-in-the-region/

The Future of Al Qaeda, ISIL, and the Global Jihadi-Salafi Movement

Oxford Disinformation & Extremism Lab (OxDEL)

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://www.oxdisinformationextremismlab.com/research/article/terrorism-al-qaeda-isis-isil-article-broderick-brody-mcdonald

AI Content Moderation and Evasion Tactics on Social Media Platforms

Global Network on Extremism & Technology, Kings College London

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://gnet-research.org/2022/10/31/extremists-are-seeping-back-into-the-mainstream-algorithmic-detection-and-evasion-tactics-on-social-media-platforms/

How Far Right Extremists Respond to Failed Predictions

Global Network on Extremism & Technology, Kings College London

Broderick McDonald

Access: https://gnet-research.org/2021/03/31/how-qanon-reacts-to-failed-predictions/

Public Lectures & Invited Talks

McDonald, Broderick. "Gaming, Extremism, and Counterterrorism" at the Global Coalition Against Daesh Communications Working Group, UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and the Global Coalition Against ISIS, The Royal Society, September 2025

McDonald, Broderick. "Unraveling the Present, Forecasting the Future with Broderick McDonald" on The International Risk Podcast with Dominic Bowens and Elisa Garbil. Remote, September 2025

McDonald, Broderick. "Terrorist Use of Agentic AI" at the Aqaba Process Expert-Level Conference on Disrupting Terrorist Activities Through Generative AI”, The Royal Hashemite Court and UK Ministry of Defence, London, England, July 2025

McDonald, Broderick. “Terrorist Misuse of AI Systems for Attack Planning, TVEC, and CBRN Threats”, Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF)/US State Department, Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2025

McDonald, Broderick. “AI Safety in Practice: Safeguarding Against Real‑World Misuse and Near‑Term Harms.”, Oxford Technology & Security Nexus (OTSN), Nuffield College, Oxford University, 15 May 2025

McDonald, Broderick. “Preparing Industry for Near-Term & Immediate Harms from AI Systems”, Global Internet Forum for Countering Terrorism (GIFCT), AI Industry Working Group, London, United Kingdom, 10 May 2025

McDonald, Broderick. “Preventing Exploitation of AI Systems by Terrorist & Extremist Entities, Hostile Foreign States, and Organized Crime”, Emerging Threats Group, Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, Oxford University, 23 February 2025

McDonald, Broderick. “Foreign Terrorist Fighters & Global Networks in Syria” XCEPT Research Conference, Centre for Statecraft & National Security, Kings College London, 13-14 May 2025

McDonald, Broderick. “Digital Evidence and Emerging Security Threats from Non-State Actors”, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) / IIJ Training on Digital Evidence in a Counter Terrorism Context for the International Prosecutors, Valetta, Malta, 27-28 January 2025

McDonald, Broderick, Nafees Hamid, Rahaf Al-Doughli, Nils Mallock. “From Rebels to Rulers”, The War Studies Podcast, Kings College London, 18 January 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “Israel, Syria, and the Six-Day War”, BBC The Conflict: Middle East Podcast, London, 20 December 2024

McDonald, Broderick, Nafees Hamid, Rahaf Al-Doughli, Nils Mallock. “Towards a New Syria: Understanding the Motivations and Values of Syria’s New Rulers”, International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), Kings College London, 18 January 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “The Use of Drones & Emerging Technology by Non-State Actors”, The Global Tech Podcast, Somewhere on Earth Productions, BBC Studios, London, 17 December 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “Use of AI in Preventing Online Harms & Malicious Actors”, Hedayah International Research Conference, Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London, 29-30 October 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “AI and UAS Drone Systems”, Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), Lancaster House, London, 22-23 October 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “Using AI to Prevent Online Harms”, EU Commission/FRISCO Project Final Conference, Brussels, 17-18 October 2024

McDonald, Broderick "Borderline Content, Free Speech, and Human Rights" VOXPol Webinar Series, with Hannah Rose, Heidi Schulze & Simon Greipl, and Ursula Schmid. Online. 03 July 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “Red Teaming for Law Enforcement, NGOs, and AI Developers”, Social Media & Terrorism Conference, Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, 19-20 June 2024

McDonald, Broderick. “Generative AI, Disinformation, and Society”, Commonwealth Parliamentarians Conference, Commonwealth Parliaments Association Secretariat, 04 December 2023

McDonald, Broderick. “Generative AI and Online Harms”, Ditchley AI Discussions, Ditchley Foundation, 30 October 2023

McDonald, Broderick. “The Role of Generative AI in Shaping Extremism, Disinformation, and Elections”, Oxford Generative AI Summit, Jesus College Oxford Digital Hub, Oxford Internet Institute, 22 October 2023

McDonald, Broderick. “Rebel Governance and Salafi-Jihadist Groups”, Centre for the Study of Intractable Conflict (CRIC) Annual Conference, University of Oxford, 18 September 2023

McDonald, Broderick. “Leading from Beside”, Global Leadership Initiative Conference, Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub, University of Oxford, 23 June 2023

McDonald, Broderick. “Next Generation Leadership”, OCP Business & Society Conference, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, 16 June 2023

McDonald, Broderick and Guy Fiennes. “Counter-Terrorism and Russia’s Wagner Group in the Sahel and West Africa” Orion Policy Institute Podcast, 14 June 2023

McDonald, Broderick. “Understanding Jihadist Proto-States: Rebel Governance and the Next Generation of Jihadist Salafist Extremism” CDA Institute Conference, 29 September 2022

McDonald, Broderick. “Mitigating the Mental Health Risks of Researching Violent Extremism” Terrorism and Social Media Conference, Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, 28 June 2022

McDonald, Broderick. “Identity, Nationalism, and Fragmentation in the Modern Middle East” Middle East & Islamic Studies Consortium Conference, University of British Columbia, 16 May 2016

In The News

Broderick McDonald — France24 News

Broderick McDonald on France 24 News

World News with Gavin Lee (France24 English)

University of Oxford, Kings College London

Tech Against Terrorism Podcast

In this episode of the Tech Against Terrorism Podcast, Broderick McDonald examines the growth and development of far-right Active Clubs, one of the fastest growing extremist groups in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Later we discuss how far-right extremist groups have threatened elections and undermine democratic processes.

You can find a full transcript of the conversation here: https://share.descript.com/view/Ev0oG03R91v

Broderick McDonald (Oxford / Kings College London)

Archie Macfarlane (Tech Against Terrorism)

Listen to the full podcast below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3sSWoFLWwg

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EdFPYi9ehb8WmKHPXm1Fd

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-against-terrorism/id1481039245?uo=4

Learn more: https://podcast.techagainstterrorism.org/1684819/14864219-active-clubs-fitness-fraternity-and-fascism

Broderick-McDonald-Brody--Oxford_AI-Announcement-News

Oxford Generative AI Summit University of Oxford

Oxford Generative AI Summit
University of Oxford
Broderick McDonald spoke about Generative AI, Disinformation, and Extremism at the Oxford GenAI Summit on October 21-22 2023 at the Cheng Kar Shek Digital Hub, Jesus College, University of Oxford.

The OxGenAI Summit is a multi-stakeholder expert convening hosted at Jesus College, University of Oxford to dive deep into the use cases, implications, and future of generative AI & society. Insights from business and AI leaders, technical experts, & policy experts from the UK and beyond

Broderick McDonald (Kings College London, Associate Fellow)

Dina Hussein (Meta, Head of Counter Terrorism)

Adam Hadley (Tech Against Terrorism, Director)

Rayhan Asat (Atlantic Council, Senior Fellow)

Watch the full panel presentation below on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spkyFDcCQ0Q

Al Jazeera Article (Publication)

Al Jazeera Article

Active Clubs: A new far-right threat to democratic elections

"Across North America and Europe, the far-right Active Clubs movement is expanding at an unprecedented pace, presenting new threats to democratic elections and minorities.

With a network of decentralised cells in most states in the United States and European Union member countries, the Active Clubs movement has blended far-right extremism with mixed martial arts (MMA). By presenting a more palatable image to the public and combining its extremist ideology with exercise, fitness and MMA training, Active Clubs have widened their appeal to reach a much broader audience than traditional white supremacist groups whose members are often derided for being “keyboard warriors”

Broderick McDonald
2 May 2024

Broderick-McDonald-Lecture-AI-Parliament-Official

AI, Disinformation, and Parliament Conference

AI, Disinformation, and Parliament Conference

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Broderick McDonald will speak at the CPA Secretariat's Conference on AI, Disinformation, and Parliament next week. Register below to join online or in-person at Richmond House: https://www.cpahq.org/conference-on-the-4ir-2023/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_campaign=4ir_conference_2023

Broderick McDonald (Oxford / International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)

Jack Hardcastle (CPA Secretariat)

4-6 December 2023

Learn more

Leadership & National Security | Aspen Institute UK

Leadership & National Security
Aspen Institute UK
Broderick McDonald will facilitate an Aspen Institute UK discussion with Darren Boyling, Senior Advisor at the FCDO's National Security Directorate.

What are the implications of what governments say publicly and what happens behind the scenes? What is the UK’s relationship – and impact – in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States, China, and NATO? What is the balance of power between public and private infrastructure? What is the effect of the press on foreign policy? How does AI play into all of this? How does good leadership affect foreign policy? These are just some of the areas that this discussion will explore.

Leadership & National Security will be led by Darren Boyling, a Senior State Threats Adviser working for the Joint Funds Unit and is currently attached the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s National Security Directorate. Darren provides advice on programming and understanding state threats and is building the FCDO’s global state threats network. He was previously Head of Strategic Communications in the HMG Russia Unit in the FCDO. Over the past 20 years he has worked on various international development and national security issues including whilst posted in Ethiopia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia.

Learn more

Broderick-McDonald-Aspen-Institute-Seminar

Leadership & National Security Aspen Institute UK

Broderick-McDonald-CounterTerrorism-Podcast

Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel Podcast

Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel Podcast
Orion Policy Institute, Washington DC

In this episode of OrionTalks, Broderick McDonald and Guy Fiennes join host Suat Cubukcu to discuss the Wagner Group's expanding relations in the Sahel region and its potential impact on the security and stability of the region.

They delve into the specific roles undertaken by the Wagner Group, examining their economic and political motivations, as well as the implications of their involvement in countering rebels and insurgency in the region. Additionally, they assess the Russian government's interest in Wagner's activities and explore potential measures the international community can take to address these concerning developments.

Broderick McDonald is an expert on countering extremism, terrorism, and disinformation with more than 10 years of experience across government, academia, and international organizations. He is an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and a Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Oxford. Broderick previously served as a Policy Advisor to the Government of Canada and a researcher with the Non-Partisan Parliamentary Group for Genocide Prevention. Prior to this, he was a Fellow with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and an Assistant Editor of the Perspectives on Terrorism Journal. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and an Associate Member of Chatham House.

Guy Fiennes is an OSINT analyst and Aspen UK Rising Leaders Fellow. He is interested in the MENA region and extremism and is currently employed at the NATO and The Global Enduring Disorder Project.

Listen to the podcast here: https://www.orionpolicy.org/orionforum/193/broderick-mcdonald-guy-fiennes-wagner-groups-expanding-footprint-in-sahel

Bridging the Gap Conference | Korbel School of International Studies (Colorado)

Bridging the Gap (BTG) promotes engagement between the scholarly, policy, and public spheres to inform debate and decision making on U.S. foreign policy and evolving global challenges.

BTG equips scholars to produce influential policy-relevant research and theoretically grounded policy work. We also promote and facilitate the dissemination of cutting-edge research on problems of concrete importance to governments, think tanks, international institutions, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and the broader public. Within the academy, we are driving changes in university culture and processes designed to incentivize public and policy engagement.

Red Teaming: Emerging Threats in Online Extremism

Breakout Panels: Red Teaming: Emerging Threats in Online Extremism

Organised by Broderick McDonald (University of Oxford) & Dr Simon Copeland (RUSI)

Panellists:
Charley Gleeson (ExTrac)
Kye Allen (University of Oxford)
Petra Regeni (RUSI Europe)

Abstract:
Red and blue teaming have become popular methods to identify risks and develop technical solutions to online harms by industry, government, and international organizations. By leveraging inter-disciplinary subject matter experts, red teaming has significant potential to improve products and practices. However, to be effective and focussed, participants must be trained in how these methods evolved and the best way to contribute to the wider team. Many experts whose knowledge or backgrounds could improve red teaming efforts are often unaware of how the methodology works or how they could contribute to it. Effective red teaming requires a wide diversity of socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and gender perspectives to identify novel risks and solutions. To help address this, our workshop will guide participants through mock red teaming exercises to give them hands-on experience with the method. Using the topic of emerging threats in online extremism, this session will demonstrate how different perspectives and novel thinking can inform new policies and solutions that keep pace with changing digital challenges and environments. Our facilitators will bring in insights from their research or previous red teaming experience to guide participants through the process and answer questions as they arise.

Broderick McDonald | Snowmass, Colorado

Broderick McDonald

Who is Broderick McDonald?

Research Interests​

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Counter Terrorism & Violent Extremism

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Peace & Conflict

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Recent Publications​

Emerging Technologies & Terrorist Misuse (Book Chapter)

Terrorist and Extremist Exploitation of AI Systems: Emerging Threats and Technical Solutions

AI-Enabled Terrorism: CBRN Threats (Book Chapter)

The Right Way to Engage With Syria’s New Rulers

The Long Road to Damascus: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Assad, and the Future of Syria

​The Drones of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): The Development and Use of UAS in Syria

A New Far-Right Threat to Democratic Elections

Tech Against Terrorism: Extremism, Elections, and Active Clubs

​​The Use of Generative AI in Disinformation & Extremism

Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel: The Wagner Group's Growing Shadow

The Future of Al Qaeda, ISIL, and the Global Jihadi-Salafi Movement

AI Content Moderation and Evasion Tactics on Social Media Platforms

How Far Right Extremists Respond to Failed Predictions

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Public Lectures & Invited Talks

In The News

Research Interests

Recent Publications

The Drones of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): The Development and Use of UAS in Syria

The Use of Generative AI in Disinformation & Extremism