Journal for Deradicalization
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Reconsidering the Relationship Between Integration and Radicalization
Get PDFResearch literature suggests a number of possible causes leading to radicalization of young Muslims living in Western countries, including poverty, social marginalization, weak or threatened identities, lack of connection to native culture, etc.. Regardless of the diversity of causes, academic literature as well as governmental strategies have shown a consistent interest in the basic formula that a lack of cultural integration equals an increased threat of radicalization. The lacking evidence for the simple correlation, however, has become increasingly difficult to ignore. Based on a review of existing ideas and evidence concerning the relationship between integration and radicalization, this paper concludes that the presumed relationship needs to be reconsidered, because it is not supported by evidence, and because it can lead to ineffective or potentially harmful interventions
Reducing the risks posed by Dutch returnees from Syria by transferring Germany’s experiences in their fight against the radical right to the Netherlands.
Get PDFThis article investigates one aspect of what the Dutch government can do to reduce the risks posed by Dutch jihadists who are currently fighting in Syria. The Dutch government has developed a comprehensive action programme to combat jihadism which outlines measures designed to combat the jihadist movement in the Netherlands. The comprehensive action programme includes plans to develop an exit facility to help people leaving the jihadist movement. Furthermore, a support facility needs to be created, based on the German network model. Of this network the Hayat programme will be analysed in-depth together with the EXIT-Deutschland programme. Hayat is a civil society programme that includes working with relatives of radicalised individuals and tries to de-radicalise these individuals. Hayat’s programme is amongst others based on experiences gained from EXIT-Deutschland, a de-radicalisation programme focusing on de-radicalising individual members of the radical right movement. The exit-facility that the Dutch government wants to create and the support facility are only explained vaguely and have not yet been introduced. This research investigates how and to what extent Hayat’s and EXIT-Deutschland’s elements can successfully be transferred to the Netherlands. This research recommends focusing on disengaging instead of de-radicalisation. The programme should be executed by an NGO with expert witness status. Furthermore, an active approach to contacting returnees is considered best in line with the Dutch government’s objectives. Important elements of the German programme can be transferred to the Netherlands. These elements include using a personal approach, providing returnees with alternatives and family counselling, and generally - apart from the already existing repressive measures - focusing on positive measures. This article also outlines the ways in which such a transfer of best practises can be best achieved
Countering Radicalisation Countering Across Europe – The Pioneering ISDEP Project
No full textThe changing landscape of the global terrorism threat coupled with increasing concern about home grown extremism means that the need to tackle the root causes of radicalisation across the European Union has never been greater.The pathway to violent extremism and terrorism is, however, undeniably complex. Frontline practitioners working with those vulnerable to radicalisation need to have the right tools to allow them to recognise, respond to and challenge ideologies and narratives associated with any form of terrorism.A pioneering EU Commission funded project is the first of its kind designed to offer consistency around, and increase awareness of, counter radicalisation specifically for frontline practitioners.Improving Security by Democratic Participation (ISDEP) is a two year programme based on the EU Commission’s Prevent strand of the Counter Terrorism Strategy. Training themes focus on helping practitioners to identify the influences and vulnerabilities that shape an individual’s thought processes towards violent extremism
North American Foreign Fighters
Get PDFWhile the phenomenon of so-called “foreign fighters” is in no way new the past thirty-plus years has shown a marked increase in the numbers of individuals traveling abroad to fight in civil conflicts in the Muslim world. The crisis in Syria (2011-present) has created a massive influx of such individuals going to fight. Of particular concern in western capitals has been the numbers of individuals from those countries that have gone to fight in that conflict which has since crossed the border into neighboring Iraq with the establishment of the socalled “Islamic State” and threatens to broaden the conflict into a larger regional sectarian conflagration. While the numbers of such participants from Western Europe have been greater than those who have gone from the United States and Canada there are legitimate concerns in both Washington, DC, and Ottawa about American and Canadian citizens who have gone—or attempted to go—to fight there and in other locales such as the Maghreb and Somalia. The analysis here will provide some background on the foreign fighter phenomenon, discuss the foreign fighter flow model, explore the issue from both Canadian and US perspectives to include providing details of some original research categorizing the characteristics of a small sample of US and Canadian fighters and those who attempted to go and fight, discuss how both governments have attempted to deal with the issue, and offer some policy prescription for dealing with this issue that is of importance to both international security writ large and domestic security in the US and Canada
Rechtsextreme links liegen lassen? Eine Einschätzung von Szeneaussteigern zu Medieneffekten innerhalb der rechtsextremen Szene (Ignoring Right-Wing Extremists? The Perspective of Formers Regarding the Effects of Media Coverage on the Extreme Right)
No full textDie vorliegende Arbeit geht der Frage nach, welche Reaktionen durch unterschiedliche Formen der Berichterstattung über Rechtsextremismus bei den Anhängern der rechten Szene ausgelöst werden und welche Strategien diese verfolgen, um ihre mediale Selbstinszenierung zu optimieren. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist es, Ansätze für einen verantwortungsbewussten Umgang mit Themen rechtsextremen Schwerpunkts für Medienmacher zu finden. Es werden 7 Aussteiger zu ihren Erfahrungen mit Medien in der Szene befragt. Zu den wichtigsten Ergebnissen dieser Arbeit zählt die Erkenntnis, dass die rechtsextreme Führungsriege aktiv Berichterstattung in den Massenmedien rezipiert und systematisch auswertet, um auf dieser Basis ihre politischen Selbstinszenierungsstrategien zu entwickeln. Die Szene reagiert also taktisch auf Berichte in den Massenmedien und versucht diese durch Anschlusskommunikation für ihre Zwecke zu instrumentalisieren. Wichtig für die Berichterstattung über Rechtsextremismus erscheint den Probanden die Betonung der Pluralität der Szene und eine ausführliche Hintergrundberichterstattung, die im besten Falle identitätsstiftende Attribute rechtsextremer Gruppen dekonstruiert und somit deren Glaubwürdigkeit in Frage stellt. English AbstractThe present study examines the question of which reactions are triggered by different forms of media reporting on right-wing extremism among the supporters of the right-wing scene and which strategies they pursue in order to optimize their medial self-staging. The aim of the work is to find approaches for a responsible dealing with right-wing extremist issues for media-makers. Seven former right-wing extremists are asked about their experiences with the media while they were in the movement. One of the most important results of this study is the recognition that right-wing extremist leaders actively receive and systematically evaluate media coverage in the mass media in order to develop their political self-staging strategies on this basis. The movement thus tactically reacts to reports in the mass media and tries to exploit them for its own purposes by means of follow-up communication. For reporting on right-wing extremism, the interviewees consider it important to emphasise the plurality of the movement and to provide a detailed background report, which at best deconstructs the identity-generating attributes of right-wing extremist groups and thus calls their credibility into question. The article was written in German
#hitlerwasright: National Action and National Socialism for the 21st Century
Get PDFThis article examines the new neo-Nazi organisation National Action. It begins with a brief overview of the group, from its formation in 2013 to its latest activism at the end of 2014. It then develops three analytical concepts to explore the nature of the group in greater depth. It firstly presents National Action as a neo-Nazi groupuscule operating within a wider milieu of extreme right organisations in the UK, some of this it has developed working relationships with, others it rejects as inauthentic. Secondly, it analyses the transnational dynamics of the group, revealing its engagement with groups outside of Britain. Finally, it examines how the group historicises it activity, linking the contemporary situation with the history of interwar fascism, especially Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. It concludes that, at the present moment, National Action poses limited risks to the public, however this could change over time given its extremist ideology and its links to international organisations
The Radical Online: Individual Radicalization Processes and the Role of the Internet
Get PDFThis paper examines in detail the role of the Internet in individual radicalization processes of eight German former right-wing extremists. Applying Grounded Theory methodology the qualitative interviews were analyzed in several coding and re-coding phases. The findings are integrated into the existing literature afterwards. Besides well known factors, such as more effective communication, anonymity and better networking opportunities, this study found evidence that the Internet is a major driving factor to establish and foster the development of radical contrast societies (cf. Koehler, 2015) transmitting radical and violent ideologies and translating them into political activism.As a venue for information exchange, ideological development and training, the individual radicalization process was characteristically shaped or even made possible through the Internet. This paper also shows the high value of qualitative research regarding the topic in contrast to usually employed quantitative analysis of webpage content
What makes a terrorist stop being a terrorist?
Get PDFoai:jd.pkp.sfu.ca:article/1“Feet first”. That’s how one terrorist leader told recruits was the only way out. It makes sense. Allowing members to just walk away wouldn’t be good for the group’s image. And yet – at the same time as Islamic State parades its European jihadis in shocking beheading videos and continues to recruit aggressively around the world – terrorists do disengage all the time. Some quietly disappear. Others go public, telling their stories on TV or in autobiographies. They embrace their new identity as an “ex-“ or “former” to warn others of the dangers of involvement. We have also come to know formers through the rise of so-called de-radicalization programs. For the past decade, I’ve examined how and why terrorists walk away, and I’ve also closely examined programs aimed at helping ease that transition
Counter-extremism and De-radicalisation in the UK: a Contemporary Overview
Get PDFDe-radicalisation policy carries with it an inherent tension: those who provide the most invaluable support in drawing people away from violent extremist groups generally come from the demographic or community that is under suspicion. This is true even when the extremist ideology is simple for governments and state agencies to understand – such as certain political or nationalist demands – due to the credibility and reach held by members of community. Yet when government lacks not only trust and moral authority with a target demographic, but a theological and cultural knowledge which is central to understanding the nature of the extremist threat (as with violent Islamist extremism), partnering with civil society actors from the community takes on a vital importance. Partnering with community members has therefore been a central and indispensable part of the UK’s Prevent strategy, but how to do so has at times been a disputed, chronically under-researched, ideologically driven political quagmire.The Lokahi Foundation is currently conducting a long research project, funded by the European Community, to assess the lessons that can be identified from the United Kingdom’s responses to extremism and ‘radicalization’. In this brief report we set out the historical context in which we undertake this work, and the implicit ‘strategic philosophy’, of the United Kingdom’s approach since the London attacks of July 2007.
Preventing Radicalization and Discrimination in Aarhus
Get PDFWork in this area began as a pilot project in 2007. The aim of the project was to prevent the radicalization - political as well as religious - of young people thereby promoting safety and well-being. On the 1st of January 2011, the project, its operations and leadership were passed over to SSP Aarhus. (SSP is an alliance between Social Services, Schools and The Police