American counterterrorism officials have long worried about the possibility of a “lone wolf” jihadist committing a terrorist attack. Such individuals, inspired by ideology alone, can come out of nowhere. And if they are truly unconnected to the international terrorist network then they can be undetectable, setting off no warning bells before their day of terror. 

Anders Behring Breivik, the man arrested in the wake of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Oslo, is no jihadist. Instead, he is a right-wing terrorist who held extreme and bizarre views regarding Marxism, multiculturalism, and Muslims. But while more has been learned about his ideology, an important question remains unanswered: Was he truly a “lone wolf”? 

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