Bergen’s examination of American jihadists finds that they are largely middle class and typically well educated. Some, like Major Nidal Hasan, would grow up with the quintessential American lifestyle, before experiencing a “cognitive opening” that turned them towards militant Islam. Bergen finds that in Hasan’s case, it was the deaths of his parents that provided this opening, as their deaths caused him to become more pious. This in turn ultimately led to Hasan’s deadly 2009 assault at Fort Hood, Texas. On another front, Bergen shows how the greatest menace to the US homeland is posed, not by centralized groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, but rather by lone wolf attackers, such as the Tsarnaev brothers, whose terrorist attacks in 2013 paralyzed Boston’s residents with fear. These jihadists visit terrorist websites and learn how to carry out attacks in the US. As social media and encrypted chat applications continue to grow, recruiters take full advantage of their anonymity and continue to seek out more recruits for further attacks. Their decentralized operations are difficult, if not impossible, for the authorities to stop, and the terrorist organizations are aware of this. Despite the massive surveillance efforts on the part of the intelligence community, Bergen finds that in the cases of the 360 individuals he examined for Jihad, “surveillance of American phone data had no discernible role in preventing acts of terrorism and only a marginal role in preventing terrorist-related activity, such as fund-raising.”  Reception United States of Jihad has been well-received, with former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano declaring that “Bergen’s book is the best one-volume treatment available on the current state of jihad in America.” Michiko Kakutani writes that Bergen's "profiles of jihadists . .
United States of Jihad has been well-received, with former Secretary of Homeland Security Jay Napolitano declaring that “Bergen’s book is the best one-volume treatment available on the current state of jihad in America.”