Over the past decade, counterterrorism policymakers and practitioners have increasingly focused on developing a broader strategic approach that stresses prevention and addresses the enabling environment for terrorism and violent extremism. This article published by the United Nations Association, UK focuses on the potential overlap between countering violent extremism and development assistance, and what the United Nations can do to ensure that actors in both realms mutually benefit from the work they are doing.
Development and Countering Violent Extremism
It is well documented that economic and social development are better attained in the absence of violent conflict. Relatedly, a consensus is building that violent extremism and terrorism are both international security and development issues. However, a gap remains between the policies, practices, and tools used by those concerned with international security and those responsible for stabilization and development cooperation. The gap exists at an organizational level within governments and other bureaucracies and in implementation of programming on the ground. An integrated approach has the potential to play a stronger role in strengthening community resilience against violent extremism and reducing many of its enabling factors.
This policy brief examines the nexus between countering violent extremism and development assistance, looking specifically at opportunities and risks, different approaches taken by donor organizations, and the impact on programs and implementers. It highlights lessons learned and emerging practices, and provides recommendations that could increase their efficiency and impact.
As the so-called Islamic State expands its reach and influence, it is evident that many find its narratives and tactics appealing. Countering that appeal and preventing the spread of the group’s violent ideology is essential to its long-term defeat. Partly as an acknowledgment of this fact, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched his new plan of action on preventing violent extremism in January. This International Peace Institute Global Observatory piece by Alistair Millar, Executive Director of the Global Center, explores whether the United Nations is equipped to deliver on the Secretary-General’s new plan of action.
The new plan to prevent violent extremism has already drawn some criticism for dwelling too much on what member states ought to do to prevent extremism, rather than offering a concrete plan of action for the United Nation to undertake. However, it does build on a host of initiatives emanating from the UN Security Council and General Assembly over the past decade, and expands the preventive dimension of multilateral activities in this area.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to roll out a plan of action to improve multilateral efforts on countering violent extremism (CVE), or what the United Nations increasingly calls “preventing” violent extremism, known under the acronym PVE. The forthcoming UN plan of action on preventing violent extremism will cap an intense year for new policies and programs in the field, which kicked off during the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism hosted by President Barack Obama and followed up at the opening of the UN General Assembly. The article explores why CVE is more critical than ever and why it is important to differentiate CVE from traditional counterterrorism measures. Looking ahead to discussions among member states and the UN system on a plan of action on CVE, the article encourages states to invest sufficient political capital to ensure that the outcome is best suited to their strategic goals. Overall, the article underscores that CVE measures represent a valuable opportunity to shape more concrete prevention efforts with an urgency that reflects the scale of the challenge.
As a field of policy and practice, countering violent extremism (CVE) has emerged rapidly in recent years and represents the most significant development in counterterrorism over that time. But CVE stands at something of a fulcrum point. There is enough experience in “doing CVE” to expect that data about its effects and effectiveness can be gathered and analyzed. In turn, such analyses ought to inform future developments if policy is to be evidence based. This report asks, “Does CVE work?” In elaborating a response, the report provides a brief primer on CVE, which is often criticized for lacking coherence as a field. It reviews publicly available evaluation research on CVE to derive lessons from the past, which pertain to governmental efforts to engage communities for the purpose of CVE. It analyzes how those evaluations and related efforts to learn from experience have impacted the evolution of CVE, which has, in general, become better focused on the risk of extremist behavior over time. In turn, the report reviews the state of the art in evaluating CVE measures. The report makes the case for systematizing the understanding and practice of CVE, committing to its evaluation, and moderating expectations about its impacts.
This report outlines ideas for strategies, programs, and initiatives that can be implemented to prevent and counter violent extremism in the Greater Horn of Africa and increase human security and community resilience. Suggestions include training officials and frontline practitioners to enhance their engagement with communities, improving service delivery and reform of the security and criminal justice sectors, introducing disengagement and reintegration programs, promoting subregional cooperation and information sharing, fostering youth leadership, engaging the media and the private sector, and strengthening the capacity of and engagement with civil society actors.
The action agenda stresses the importance of holistic and inclusive approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism that involve a range of actors, including states in the subregion, partner governments, and international and multilateral actors, as well as regional, subregional, and nongovernmental organizations. With an eye toward increasing the sustainability and impact of programs aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism, it advises to build on initiatives that are already in place in the Greater Horn of Africa and ensure that current and future activities are embedded in ongoing efforts that aim to build capacity across the criminal justice, security, and development sectors.
Efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism have increasingly sought to engage youth, communities, and marginalized groups, including women, with the intent to address some of the underlying grievances and conditions that can create an enabling environment for extremist groups to generate support and recruits. Sports, arts, and culture offer much-underutilized platforms to address some of these conditions and help develop resonant and effective counternarratives to reflect local and regional dynamics. As the 2015 U.S. National Security Strategy notes, in the long term, such efforts “will be more important than our capacity to remove terrorists from the battlefield.”
This brief explores the history of cultural diplomacy and use of sports in conflict situations; examines relevant lessons learned and good practices that can inform the integration of sports, arts, and culture into countering violent extremism (CVE) efforts; and offers practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in the CVE field. The brief draws on desk research, discussions with practitioners and policymakers, and discussions at a workshop on the topic co-hosted by the Global Center and Hedayah in May 2014.
On 24 September, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2178 with the support of over 120 states representing a broad cross-section of the UN membership. Resolution 2178 called on all UN member states to ensure increased border security and to screen for or arrest foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) travelling to or returning from conflict areas. Rightly so, it also urges states to counter violent extremism by taking preventive measures, such as engaging with communities at the local level to stop the spread of extremist ideologies.
On 23 October 2014, the Global Center, the Human Security Collective, and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague convened an expert meeting at the European Union (EU) in Brussels to discuss the implications of the resolution and to explore appropriate and effective responses to the threat of FTFs, both within the EU and as part of the Union’s foreign security and development programming.
Building upon the discussion in Brussels, this policy brief is a compilation of essays from all three organizations on the challenges and opportunities for addressing the FTF threat from a European Union perspective. It also examines the implementation of Resolution 2178 as an integral part of national and multilateral foreign security and development policies and initiatives.
The widely endorsed adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2178 reflects an understanding by the international community that the response to the threat posed by violent, transnational, and nonstate groups, like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), must be multidimensional. This brief explores the evolution of the UN’s response to transnational terrorism since 2001, including the emergence of new international actors, and highlights the innovative focus on “countering violent extremism” or “CVE” in the resolution. Moreover, the brief highlights the new opportunities presented by the resolution to underscore the critical role of human rights and foster a more balanced response going forward. Arguing that the world body should adopt an approach that is cognizant of existing efforts but also strategic in adding value, this brief sets out a number of practical recommendations for the UN and key stakeholders to consider in their efforts to implement Resolution 2178.
UN Security Council Resolution 2178 is an important part of the global civilian effort to reduce the threat from foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere. This policy brief outlines a targeted and risk-based approach for states to follow in implementing the Resolution 2178 using civilian counterterrorism tools, including law enforcement and border security, and relevant practices from outside standard counterterrorism operations, such as community engagement. It concludes by outlining an approach to strengthening international cooperation on FTF issues that takes advantage of recently established elements of the global counterterrorism architecture, notably the GCTF and the institutions and good practices it has inspired, such as the Hague-Marrakech memorandum.