In view of its primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, the UN Security Council plays a number of important roles in supporting UN entities and member states’ in their CVE efforts – whether through shaping international obligations and norms, mandating peacekeeping and political missions, or enhancing coordination and capacity within the UN Secretariat to meet emerging threats. This brief explores how the Security Council could better leverage these roles to further integrate CVE considerations into their responses to terrorism and conflicts that are influenced by terrorism and violent extremism. It also highlights some of the key challenges and opportunities in further integrating CVE practice into the work of the UN, in particular through Security Council.
Strengthening Multilateral Policies and Practices to Counter Violent Extremism
The Global Center on Cooperative Security is pleased to announce the publication of the report, “Preventing Violent Extremism in Burkina Faso: Toward National Resilience Amid Regional Insecurity.” The report is coauthored by Profs. Augustin Loada (Executive Director of the Ouagadougou-based Centre pour la Gouvernance Democratique) and Peter Romaniuk (Senior Fellow at the Global Center in New York). At a time when violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel is at the top of the regional and international agenda, the report assesses the threat to Burkina Faso and surveys sources of resilience. The report finds that Burkina Faso is vulnerable to violent extremism but the threat is not imminent, while arguing that stakeholders (the Government of Burkina Faso, its international partners and civil society groups) should take steps to prevent the emergence of violent extremism and build resilience.
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The Global Center on Cooperative Security est heureux d’annoncer la publication de la rapport, «Prévention de l’extrémisme violent au Burkina Faso: Vers une résilience nationale dans un context d’insécurité régionale». Le rapport est co-écrit par les professeurs, Augustin Loada (Directeur exécutif du centre pour la Gouvernance Démocratique basé à Ouagadougou) et Peter Romaniuk (Senior Fellow au Global Center à New York). À une époque où l’extrémisme violent en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Sahel est en tête de l’agenda régional et international, le rapport évalue la menace au Burkina Faso et passe en revue ses sources de résilience. Le rapport constate que le Burkina Faso est vulnérable à l’extrémisme violent, mais la menace n’est pas imminente, tout en démontrant que les parties prenantes (le gouvernement du Burkina Faso, ses partenaires internationaux et les groupes de la société civile) doivent prendre des mesures pour empêcher l’émergence de l’extrémisme violent et renforcer la résilience.
Unlike traditional counterterrorism measures, which focus largely on law enforcement and military responses, countering violent extremism (CVE) programs span a broad cross-section of policy domains and has increased the range of actors involved to include those in development, conflict prevention and mitigation, education, culture, and diplomacy. Underscoring the importance of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, this brief explores the increasing roles for women in addressing conflict, violence, and extremism in South Asia.
This policy brief stems from discussions at a September 2013 workshop entitled “Strengthening Community Resilience Against Violent Extremism in South Asia: What Role for Women and Civil Society?” cohosted by CGCC and the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and held at the National University of Singapore. The workshop provided a platform for regional experts and practitioners from a range of professional and national backgrounds to explore the gender dimension of the drivers of violence and extremism in the region and the lessons from experiences in addressing them.
The media plays an important role in terrorism and counterterrorism. Because of its capacity to relay information, frame narratives, shape public opinion, and inform both politics and policymaking, the media is a critical vehicle to convey ideas that legitimize or delegitimize terrorists and violent extremist groups and narratives. Violent extremist groups have used the media, particularly the Internet, to link local grievances to global narratives, and to radicalize and mobilize supporters. South Asia has a long history of confronting violence and extremism, particularly from groups espousing a wide variety of ideologies, including ethno-national, separatist, right and left wing, and religious (or sectarian) causes. Within this environment, South Asia’s vibrant and diverse media has often been at the forefront of a rich cultural and political discourse and plays an important role in framing and informing public opinion, and in challenging extremist ideas and acts. However, there have also been concerns about the use of the media to incite violence and perpetuate tensions between different communities.
This report analyzes the media’s important role in contemporary terrorism and argues for greater focus on the role of the media in countering violent extremism (CVE), both as a platform for communication and as a professional body that can shape perceptions, offer balanced information, and create protected spaces for critical debate and dialogue. The publication draws on a desktop literature review, discussions held during a workshop on “The Role of the Media in Addressing Terrorism and Violent Extremism in South Asia” at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore, and extensive dialogue with practitioners, experts, and government officials. This report offers a set of recommendations for actors at the national, regional, and international levels to consider when engaging with the media for CVE purposes in South Asia.
As the threat from terrorism becomes more diffuse and transnational, with newly emerging self-radicalized or homegrown individuals or groups, so too have the tools of counterterrorism continued to evolve. Policymakers and practitioners are focusing more on preventing radicalization and recruitment and improving the resilience of individuals and communities against the appeal of violent extremism. Reflective of these trends, efforts on countering violent extremism (CVE) have emerged in a relatively short period as an increasingly important instrument in the counterterrorism tool kit for both states and multilateral actors, such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the United Nations.
This report draws on the symposium discussions and related literature, emphasizing the ways in which the field has advanced since the publication of the Global Center’s earlier report, “From Input to Impact: Evaluating Terrorism Prevention Programs.” It captures the main conceptual and operational challenges in evaluating CVE programs, as reflected in recent practice, and offers four case studies demonstrating experiences and lessons learned from evaluating CVE programming and progress in the field. This report analyzes the current state of play on that basis and suggests opportunities for further developing the field of evaluation and its application to CVE programming.
This report outlines an agenda for enhancing partnerships among the international community, governments in the region, civil society, and local communities for countering violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel. It is the product of an 18-19 April 2013 workshop on the topic, hosted in Ouagadougou by the governments of Burkina Faso and Denmark under the auspices of the Global Counterterrorism Forum and convened by the Global Center. The workshop highlighted four recurring themes that capture the range of CVE and CVE-relevant programming:
1) Empower local community, government, and traditional leaders to work on conflict prevention and resolution in a region that has been plagued by several prolonged conflicts;
2) Strengthen law enforcement, criminal justice, and security sector actors through training and technical assistance focusing on community engagement, the rule of law, and human rights;
3) Actively engage and support civil society at the regional and international level; and
4) Identify and prevent violent extremism by addressing its structural and ideological drivers.
Building on those four themes and other inputs collected from participants during the workshop, this Action Agenda outlines a range of proposed activities to enhance existing CVE-relevant efforts.
The roles of women in international peace and security efforts have been underscored by the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000 and subsequent thematic resolutions on women, peace, and security issues. The roles of women as they relate to terrorism and counterterrorism issues, however, have remained less explored by policymakers and international counterterrorism actors. As the international community shifts from a reactive to a more preventive approach regarding terrorism and violent extremism, the need for a more comprehensive multistakeholder approach to addressing these challenges has become apparent. Yet, little attention has been paid to integrating a gender dimension into UN and many national efforts to address the problems of terrorism and violent extremism.
This policy brief explores the conceptual and operational challenges in integrating a gender dimension into counterterrorism policy and programming and offers a set of recommendations for the United Nations and other actors to consider when developing effective and sustainable counterterrorism efforts.
In 2001 the report of the UN Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict reiterated a pledge to move the United Nations from a “culture of reaction to a culture of prevention.” Reflecting these trends, international actors have expressed greater interest in taking a more preventive approach on terrorism and countering violent extremism issues. How the strategic objective of terrorism prevention is to be implemented, however, remains an ongoing challenge for policymakers and practitioners. This policy brief offers an overview of the prevention agenda at the United Nations and considers how the agenda relates to international counterterrorism efforts. Following an exploration of the tools and resources currently and potentially available to the Security Council, this brief outlines a series of recommendations for consideration by UN officials, member states, and relevant stakeholders for strengthening UN capacities and enabling a more dynamic, integrated, and proactive approach to the complex security challenges the United Nations confronts today.
Terrorism has always been a battle of ideas, reflecting a desire for violent and immediate political transformation. The technologies available in a globalized world today, however, have expanded the theater of conflict into a broader swath of spaces—governed, less governed, virtual—than ever. Groups such as al-Qaida have articulated a clear mission statement and excelled at strategic communication, crafting messages based on audience perceptions and including actions as well as words.
This report presents a qualitative analysis of how strategic communication principles can strengthen international efforts to address terrorism and violent extremism. The report examines the evolution of the challenge and draws on discussions with officials, diplomats, and experts to offer a series of recommendations for enhancing strategic communications on counterterrorism. While this study focuses on the United Nations, the key principles and recommendations may also be applicable to governments and international organizations confronting this complex transnational threat.
Combined with a history of violent conflict, the greater Horn of Africa subregion has offered an enabling environment for violent extremism for more than a half century. The Global Center and partners recently conducted a pilot demonstration project in coastal Kenya and Somaliland and produced this report, which offers insight into local perceptions of violent extremism and details an approach to countering the phenomenon based on key drivers identified by participating communities.
This report presents the findings of a pilot demonstration project conducted by the Global Center to assess community attitudes towards violent extremism and the impact of international prevention programming undertaken in Kenya and Somaliland. The report offers a series of recommendations on how relevant international actors can best contribute to context-sensitive CVE programming in partnership with local communities.
This short film was produced to capture local perspectives on the impact of violent extremism on their communities. Community activists, religious and civil society leaders, and local experts from Nairobi and Coast Province share their thoughts and suggest ways to overcome challenges in the Kenyan context. It can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/56780867.