Societies across the globe are threatened by rising extremisms of various types, but what is extremism and how does it relate to violence? Much of the treatment of the subject has defaulted to the tautology that extremism is “the quality or state of being extreme.”
Violent extremism is defined as encouraging, condoning, justifying, or supporting the commission of a violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious, social, or economic goals. The complexities of violent extremism need to be systematically analyzed so as to improve our understanding of causal mechanisms linking radicalization, extremism and terrorism, and to permit the development of effective counter-extremism and counter-terrorism policies, strategies and activities. Efforts to prevent the process of radicalization to violence have to be multi-sectoral, society wide and international if we are to prevent extremism from taking root.
Research Questions:
- How can we reduce the risk of individuals succumbing to violent extremism and radicalization?
- What are the assumptions about pathways to violent radicalization that inform their strategies and programs (outcomes, activities, output and resources)?
- What are some valuable indicators of performance, success, and effectiveness of CVE programs, and what are the challenges pertinent to measurement and replication of program strategies and outcomes?
- What have been the societal perceptions and impacts of counter-terrorist initiatives?
