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Research Projects
The Future of Terrorism and the Architecture of TRIA
Principal Investigator: Bruce Hoffman
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, concerns about the insurance industry’s ability to provide coverage against the risk of terrorism led Congress to pass the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA). TRIA is intended to help both commercial policyholders and insurers by requiring insurers to make terrorism coverage available to commercial policyholders, while guaranteeing that the federal government will reimburse insurers for a portion of the losses above a particular threshold. TRIA’s impending “sunset”—on December 31, 2005—presents an opportune moment to evaluate what role the U.S. government should play in the terrorism insurance market and to think more broadly about what approach should be taken in the United States to manage risks and to provide compensation for personal injury and property and financial losses due to acts of terrorism.
This project examines current and future trends in terrorism. The focus of the analysis is on developments that have relevance for attack contingencies taking place within borders of the Continental United States (CONUS) and the extent to which they are addressed (or not) by the TRIA framework. The project has focused on imported threats to CONUS emanating from the al-Qaeda network; homegrown dangers that are emerging in the general context of anti-globalization; and, the current constitution of TRIA in terms of the potential terrorist challenges that are likely to confront the United States in the short-to-medium term.
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