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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for counter-radicalization programs
3 results foundAuthor: Vidino, Lorenzo Title: Countering Radicalization in Europe Summary: Since the mid-2000s, European countries have developed counter-radicalisation strategies, seeking to de-radicalize committed militants and preventing the radicalization of vulnerable populations. What do these strategies entail? Where do they differ, and what do they have in common? How successful have they been? Based on extensive fieldwork in Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, ICSR's latest report - Countering Radicalization in Europe - describes the genesis, main characteristics, aims, underlying philosophies and challenges experienced by counter-radicalization policies in Europe. Details: London: International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), King's College London, 2012. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 25, 2013 at: http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ICSR-Report-Countering-Radicalization-in-Europe.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Europe URL: http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ICSR-Report-Countering-Radicalization-in-Europe.pdf Shelf Number: 127400 Keywords: Counter-Radicalization ProgramsExtremist GroupsRadical Groups |
Author: Vidino, Lorenzo Title: Jihadist Radicalization in Switzerland Summary: Even though over the last twenty years some of its citizens have been killed or kidnapped by various jihadist groups abroad, internally Switzerland has not witnessed jihadist activities on a significant scale. Unlike most Western European countries, in fact, no successful terrorist attack of jihadist inspiration has ever been perpetrated on its territory and there is no publicly available information indicating that concrete plans for an attack in Switzerland were ever made. Less than a dozen individuals have been tried for terrorism-related crimes, all of them involving non-violent activities of material support and propaganda. The number of Swiss residents who have traveled abroad to join jihadist groups is also estimated to be lower than in most other European countries. Yet Swiss authorities are not complacent and argue that "Switzerland is not an island." Counterterrorism officials have consistently claimed that there is ample evidence suggesting that some of the same radicalization trends that have long characterized other Western European countries also exist in Switzerland, albeit on a smaller scale. This report seeks to assess the size and dynamics of jihadist radicalization in the country. Its main findings are as follows: - While it is impossible to provide anything even close to an exact number, it can be argued that radicalization of jihadist inspiration involves a negligible cross-section of the Swiss Muslim community. There are probably only a couple of dozens of individuals in Switzerland who are actively involved in jihadist activities. Similarly, it can be argued that the number of those fully embracing jihadist ideology is somewhere in the hundreds, and of those with varying degrees sympathizing with it is somewhere in the lower thousands. - Basing the analysis on the admittedly limited number of Swiss-based individuals who are known to have embraced jihadist ideology, it is evident that jihadist enthusiasts, as elsewhere in Europe, do not have a common profile. In the 1990s and early 2000s most of them were first generation immigrants who had arrived in Switzerland already radicalized. An example is the case of Moez Garsallaoui and Malika el Aroud, the Fribourg-based administrators of prominent jihadist forums who had contacts with the upper echelons of al Qaeda, or members of various cells providing support to North African-based al Qaeda affiliates. Following a pattern common throughout Europe, over the last few years an increasing number of jihadist sympathizers have had homegrown characteristics: born (or at least raised) in Switzerland, they radicalized independently in the country and operated largely outside of the framework of established groups. Occasionally some Swiss-based radicalized individuals manage to link up with al Qaeda-affiliated groups outside of Europe and train or fight with them. - Militants are not born in a vacuum. Rather, radicalization takes place "at the intersection of an enabling environment and a personal trajectory." This report identifies militant Salafism as the ideological milieu from which jihadists, in Switzerland as elsewhere, can come from. An automatic identification of Salafism with terrorism is a gross analytical mistake. Moreover, even among those who interact with the most radical fringes of the Salafist movement, only a marginal fraction will make the leap into violent radicalism. But militant Salafism is the larger sea in which the fish swim. - The report analyzes various factors that, often operating concurrently, contribute to radicalization: 1. The internet: the report finds evidence of a small, loose-knit community of Swiss-based jihad enthusiasts who interact among themselves and with likeminded individuals abroad on jihadist forums and online social networks. 2. Mosques: the overwhelming majority of Swiss mosques reject extremism, but small groups of jihad enthusiasts congregate at the margins of some of Switzerland's most conservative mosques or in private prayer rooms. 3. Gateway organizations: there are a handful of organizations in Switzerland which do not advocate violence themselves, but spread ideas that may lead others to do so. 4. Links abroad: Swiss militants regularly interact with like-minded individuals from countries where the Salafist scene is more developed. It is common for Swiss residents to travel abroad to participate in seminars and for foreign speakers to come to Switzerland. This interaction is particularly strong with the Salafist scenes in Germany and in the Balkans. - Patterns of linkage are very difficult to assess, but there are indications pointing to the presence of "gatekeepers" operating on Swiss territory that channel aspiring jihadists in the direction of established groups operating in Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. - As in any other European country, radicalization of jihadist inspiration seems to affect only a statistically marginal segment of the Swiss Muslim population. But radicalization in Switzerland appears to be a limited phenomenon also when compared to other European countries. Four factors can explain this difference: 1. Lack of an "infecting cluster": Switzerland never hosted an openly jihadist mosque or high profile jihadists, elements that in other countries have been crucial in spreading jihadist ideology. 2. Good degree of social, economic and cultural integration of most Muslims living in Switzerland, rendering them more resilient to extremist narratives. 3. Demographic characteristics of the Swiss Muslim population: some 80% to 90% of Swiss Muslims trace their origins to the Balkans or Turkey, where the vast majority of Muslims traditionally espouses forms of Islam that are tolerant and apolitical. 4. Switzerland's foreign policy, whose largely neutral stance does not provide a source of grievances. - While these concurrently operating factors can potentially explain the low levels of jihadist radicalization in Switzerland, none of them is a guarantee. Each, in fact, presents weaknesses and exceptions. Many of the dynamics present throughout Europe are visible also in Switzerland, albeit on a much smaller scale. There are loosely knit milieus in Switzerland, both in the virtual and physical world, that sympathize with jihadist ideology. And occasionally individuals who belong to these milieus do make the leap from words to action. Details: Zurich: Center for Security Studies (CSS) ETH Zurich, 2013. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/CH_radicalization_report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Switzerland URL: http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/CH_radicalization_report.pdf Shelf Number: 132180 Keywords: Counter-Radicalization ProgramsExtremist GroupsJihadismMuslimsRadical GroupsTerrorists |
Author: Vidino, Lorenzo Title: Countering Radicalization in America: Lessons from Europe Summary: In response to the recent surge in the number of American Muslims involved in terrorist activities, several agencies in the U.S. government have begun devising a comprehensive counter-radicalization strategy. In doing so, they are following the lead of certain European countries that have invested significant human, financial, and political capital in counter-radicalization programs. The challenges European authorities have had to face are similar to those their U.S. counterparts are expected to confront, and several lessons are at hand from the European experience. Summary The recent surge in the number of American Muslims involved in terrorism has led U.S. - authorities to question the long-held assumption that American Muslims are immune to radicalization, and to follow the example of other Western democracies in devising a comprehensive counter-radicalization strategy. Radicalization is a highly individualized process determined by the complex interaction of - various personal and structural factors. Because no one theory can exhaustively explain it, policymakers must understand the many paths to radicalization and adopt flexible approaches when trying to combat it. The role of religion in the radicalization process is debated, but theories that set aside - ideology and religion as factors in the radicalization of Western jihadists are not convincing. Policymakers who choose to tackle religious aspects should do so cautiously, however, cognizant of the many implications of dealing with such a sensitive issue. Policymakers need to determine whether a counter-radicalization strategy aims to tackle violent radicalism alone or, more ambitiously, cognitive radicalism. The relation between the two forms is contested. Challenging cognitive radicalism, though possibly useful for both security and social cohesion purposes, is extremely difficult for any Western democracy. Finding partners in the Muslim community is vital to any counter-radicalization program. - In light of the fragmentation of that community, a diverse array of partners appears to be the best solution. There is the risk, however, that counter-radicalization efforts could be perceived by Muslims as unfairly targeting them. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2010. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report: Accessed May 14, 2015 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR262%20-%20Countering_Radicalization_in_America.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR262%20-%20Countering_Radicalization_in_America.pdf Shelf Number: 135633 Keywords: Counter-Radicalization Programs Extremist GroupsHomeland SecurityMuslimsRadical GroupsTerrorism |