Studies on radicalization & comments

[davidbfpo]

In a review of threads I have found an old thread 'Engineers in the Jihad', which is a useful read:Engineers of Jihad

A reference was made to the Oxford University study that started the Engineers thread in a recent article on Foreign Fighters:https://lawfareblog.com/foreign-fighter-hot-potato

[davidbfpo]

The full title of a book chapter is: 'Patterns of Disengagement from Violent Extremism: A Stocktaking of Current Knowledge and Implications for Counterterrorism' and added here as there is a free, lengthy bibliography for reference.
Link:https://link.springer.com/chapter/10...319-65566-6_10

[AdamG]

In his first interview, an FBI undercover operative tells Scott Pelley how he infiltrated al Qaeda and thwarted potential terror attacks planned for New York and Toronto

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-...th-terrorists/

[davidbfpo]

Professor Michael Kenney at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of a superb book IMHO 'From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation' (published in 2007), has a new book coming 'The Islamic State in Britain: Radicalization and Resilience in an Activist Network'.

He has a short summary of the book and describes it as:

The result of all this soaking and poking is the first ethnographic study of a Salafi-jihadi network based in Europe that has been implicated in political violence and sending fighters to ISIS and other militant groups.

Link:http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2018/10...ivist-network/

I particularly liked his closing two sentences:

Unless we understand why some young men and women in Britain, and the West more broadly, embrace extremist ideologies and why a smaller subset of them mobilize to violence, we are not likely to prevent these processes from continuing in the future. This has consequences for all of us.

Link to the book:https://www.cambridge.org/core/books...F5184E2EF41D46

The main thread on radicalization is:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?7188-Studies-on-radicalization-amp-comment

[davidbfpo]

Far too expensive to buy, spotted yesterday in an Oxford bookshop - over £100.

[davidbfpo]

A really interesting France24 (TV) report that opens with:

When Paris was hit by two major terrorist attacks in 2015, France embarked on a painful journey to understand the radicalisation of its youth. Three years later, researchers have discredited initial theories about the “typical” home-grown terrorist.

Link:https://www.france24.com/en/20181111...theories-minds

I suspect other interested parties, including "experts" will not be pleased. At least the French have learnt faster than other nations - hopefully.

[davidbfpo]

The actual article is entitled: 'More laws won't stop terrorism but effective prevention is complex' and the author is different:

Dr Anne Aly is a federal Labor MP and former academic in the field of counter terrorism and countering violent extremism.

Link:https://www.smh.com.au/national/more...10-p50f9p.html

[davidbfpo]

Sub-titled:

A new Swedish report on extremism and organized crime paints a completely new picture of what the stereotypical offender behind those types of crimes looks like. 'We've been totally astonished by the findings,' the head author of the study told The Local.

Link:https://www.thelocal.se/20181112/ast...rganized-crime
Alas the link to the cited research report does not have an English translation.

[davidbfpo]

A notice on this conference in Oslo that has started. Added here as most of the talks have a summary added, which could act as a pointer to expertise available. I noted that The Norwegian Security Police and a former senior Danish Intelligence Service officer are speaking too. Scanning the experts most are from Scandinavia, one from the UK. Thanks to a "lurker" for this.
Link:https://www.sv.uio.no/c-rex/english/...ule/index.html

[davidbfpo]

From the Dutch think tank ICCT an excellent, short article and here is most of the second paragraph:

what most P/CVE strategies fail to demonstrate is that effective messaging is just one part of a holistic influence campaign where offline actions reinforce online messaging. The messages of extremist groups reach their intended audiences, resonate with them, and then – most importantly – offer them a pathway for action. If the movement speaks to you then you can, for instance, help spread their message online or offline, recruit and proselyte others, facilitate terrorist attacks or material flows, provide infrastructural support, or even become a local or foreign fighter. The appeal of the recruitment messaging is that these are action-oriented groups that can be supported or joined. Instead of solely offering online counter-narratives, P/CVE strategists should consider shifting their focus to offering what I call counter-engagement. Instead of offering alternative messages only, these efforts should shift towards offering alternatives things to do as well.

Link:https://icct.nl/publication/dont-jus...ounter-engage/