Studies on radicalization & comments

[davidbfpo]

Peter Neumann of ICSR @ Kings College is a SME on this topic and a few weeks ago OSCE published a report he prepared for them. He explains in the summary what it contains:

This report provides a summary of my findings. It seeks to (1) define key concepts and major dynamics; (2) evaluate the OSCE’s current and future role; and (3) identify areas of good practice, with particular emphasis on preventing and countering processes of violent radicalisation.

Link to summary:http://icsr.info/2017/09/icsr-insigh...s-osce-report/

Not read though. The full title is Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalisation that Lead to Terrorism: Ideas, Recommendations, and Good Practices from the OSCE Region.

[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

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to a "lurker" for the pointer to this New Scientist article, in August 2017; it is a good overview, even if most of the experts cited are Americans, like Atran, Sageman and Crenshaw.
Link:https://www.newscientist.com/article...ts/#bx313907B1

[davidbfpo]

From the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) a report:

In this document, the Service will outline selected findings from research it has conducted over the past three years. The purpose of this document is not to answer questions such as what are the causes of terrorism and radicalization and how these phenomena can be prevented. Although these questions are important, this document is intended as an analysis of the process of mobilization to terrorist activity. It explores not why a person becomes radicalized, but rather how the person mobilizes to engage in terrorism.

Link:https://csis.gc.ca/pblctns/thrpblctns/2018-02-05-en.php

[davidbfpo]

A short interview with an ICSR researcher, Rajan Basra; simply explained as:

Evidence suggests that criminal and jihadist milieus are more and more intertwined, challenging established beliefs about the incompatibility of criminal behavior and religious Islamic fundamentalism.

Link:https://globalriskinsights.com/2018/...w-rajan-basra/

He was the co-author of a recent ICSR report (54 pgs.) 'Criminal Pasts, Terrorist Futures: European Jihadists and the New Crime-Terror Nexus'.
Link:http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/...171214_web.pdf

[davidbfpo]

A report by two academics / advocates (one of whom I recognise as a critical SME) from the Transnational Institute (TNI), a think tank and they explanation:

provides a critical account of the emergence of CVE policies and analyses their subsequent institutionalisation within three international bodies: the European Union, the United Nations, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

Link:https://www.tni.org/en/publication/t...emism-policies

The summary ends with:

This report begins by examining the origins and proliferation of CVE policies and the problems that have accompanied and continue to surround their development and implementation. We then examine CVE policy and practice across the three aforementioned international bodies. The final sections contain conclusions and recommendations stemming from our research, including a framework we have developed to analyze the legitimacy of national CVE policies through their impact on fundamental rights and democratic and pluralist aspirations.

Finally, we would like to note from the outset that for all the ‘CVE mania’, it is surprising how little qualifies as the ‘evidence-led policy’ we hear so much about in other fields. Not only should we be asking for evidence that CVE policies are effective in terms of countering the terrorism, ‘radicalisation’ and extremism they purport to address, we should also be ensuring that in the absence of such evidence, policies do not risk exacerbating the divisions and grievances on which extremism feeds.