How can violent extremism be prevented?
with the ultimate goal of helping prevent it.
There is no universally agreed definition of violent extremism, yet it is commonly associated with some specific features. It often involves non-state armed groups for example, who may employ a-symmetric tactics to attack civilian targets. “That could mean tactics like bombs or suicide attacks,” outlines Dr Morten Bøås, Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). As the Principal Investigator of the PREVEX project, Dr Bøås is investigating the factors behind outbreaks of violent extremism through case studies on countries in three different regions; the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the Sahel. “These are areas where most of the features conducive to the emergence of violent extremism are present in one way or another,” he explains. “There are, of course, enormous differences between these regions, but they are all struggling, to varying degrees, with the fact that part of the population feels alienated by the state that they’re supposed to belong to.”
PREVEX project
This issue lies at the heart of the PREVEX project, in which Dr Bøås and his partners are looking at circumstances on the ground in countries across these three regions, with the ultimate goal of preventing violent extremism. While violent extremism is sometimes justified by the extremists on religious or political grounds, the path towards participating in it may start with some pretty basic grievances. “Data from the project suggests that the journey into extremism is often spurred by grievances concerning lack of employment or economic opportunities,” says Dr Bøås. The state may be perceived as having played a role in creating these grievances, while in some cases, it is also too weak to control local conflicts, leaving a space that violent extremists can then exploit. “This creates a local environment in which violent groups, inspired by extremist ideologies, can find ways to integrate into local communities. For example, by offering protection and support
in local struggles in areas like land rights and access to water,” continues Dr Bøås. For example, the state is relatively weak in some countries around the Sahel, and local militias exert quite a high degree of control, allowing them to present alternative ideas about how life could be, often based on their interpretation of religious texts. However, even in environments conducive to violent extremism, most people do not become radicalised, which Dr Bøås says is an essential aspect of the project’s research.
“If you are to combat violent extremism, it’s important to understand the local sources of resilience against it,” he stresses. The aim is to identify the factors that protect against violent extremism, even in areas facing severe social and economic challenges. “If a village, region or even a country has a relatively long and unbroken record of political, social and religious tolerance and moderation, that’s an important barrier against violent extremism. But it’s not enough,” says Dr Bøås.
“This tradition must be supported by figures
PREVEX
Preventing Violent Extremism in the Balkans and the MENA
Project Objectives
of authority that are seen as transparent, legitimate and relatively non-corrupt.” These figures of authority should also ideally be involved in producing a collective good viewed as important by the local community, generating a level of social cohesion which provides an effective barrier against violent extremist ideas. The Kingdom of Jordan, for example, has been able to maintain social cohesion and has experienced only limited outbreaks of violent extremism in recent years, despite sharing borders with Iraq and Syria. “In Jordan, there is a tradition of political moderation created by the custodians of the state. The Kingdom has a combination of religious, political, and social legitimacy,” outlines Dr Bøås. It’s essential to understand the sources of this existing local resilience if violent extremism is to be prevented, believes Dr Bøås. “If we become too obsessed with the manifestations of violent extremism, we lose sight of the fact that most people, even in the most enabling environments, are not interested,” he stresses. “Some people take great risks to resist violent extremism, while others resist more subtly.” This might mean negotiating a greater degree of economic freedom for local people, for example, which helps build the foundations of community resilience. This type of subtle manoeuvring and horsetrading takes place all the time, and Dr Bøås says it is an important consideration in terms of the project’s overall agenda. “This is what we need to understand better and build up in these areas,” he stresses. This also suggests that focusing on more basic, everyday grievances could be an effective approach to prevention. “We can hold de-radicalisation workshops and talk about moderation and religious tolerance, but if the initial journey into these violent extremist groups starts
with other forms of grievances, then maybe it’s better to focus on that,” says Dr Bøås. “This means that we need to take a long-term perspective and look at what we can do to make the modern state more attractive in these areas than it is right now. That’s a long path to walk, but there are few alternatives.”
Preventing violent extremism
The overarching objective of PREVEX is to put forward more fine-tuned and effective approaches to preventing violent extremism. Focusing on the broader MENA region and the Balkans, context-sensitive, in-depth case studies of the occurrence and non-occurrence of violent extremism will be carried out and then brought together in a regional comparison. In doing so, PREVEX will seek to improve the understanding of how different drivers of violent extremism operate. Particular emphasis will be placed on how to strengthen resilience through investigating the non-occurrence of violent extremism in ‘enabling environments’.
Project Funding
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 870724.
If we are to combat violent extremism, it’s important to understand the local sources of resilience against it.
An early step is to support figures of authority and help them enhance resilience. However, it’s essential to do this unobtrusively to avoid the perception that they are agents of external intervention. The project’s findings will be shared with partners, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), as well as organisations in the three regions which were the focus of PREVEX. “We put quite a lot of emphasis on presenting our findings in the countries where we have worked. We have held several dissemination events, from the Western Balkans, to Iraq, to Mali. We present our findings through various social media platforms but also – where possible – with presentations for key policy stakeholders,” outlines Dr Bøås. The aim is to make it more difficult for the agents of violent extremism to establish themselves. Dr Bøås has also looked at potential solutions, including the possibility of getting around the table with these groups. “These groups may be more open to negotiation than we may have originally believed,” he says.
The first step is to know whom to negotiate with, and while many smaller militias are operating in the Sahel, Dr Bøås says some leaders command respect both among other commanders and the rank and file. Groups in the other two regions may also be ready to negotiate, which Dr Bøås says is one potential avenue towards preventing violent extremism. “We will do whatever we can to help prevent violent extremism,” he stresses.
Project Partners https://www.prevex-balkan-mena.eu/ prevexba-category-about-us/
Contact Details
Project Coordinator, Dr Morten Bøås, Ph.D Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), C.J. Hambros Plass 2D, P.O. Box 7024 St Olav’s Plass, 0130, Oslo,Norway E: mbo@nupi.no W: https://www.prevex-balkan-mena.eu
Dr Morten Bøås, Ph.D is Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Bøås is the PI of the EU Horizon 2020 funded project ‘Preventing Violent Extremism in the Balkans and the MENA: Strengthening Resilience in Enabling Environments (PREVEX)’. Bøås works predominantly in Africa and the Middle East on insurgencies, civil war and its consequences for human security.
The events of September 11 were a huge shock, and it led to an intense focus on the manifestations of violent extremism, with researchers looking to understand why it occurs. We spoke to Dr Morten Bøås about the PREVEX project’s work in investigating the factors behind outbreaks of violent extremism,Dr Morten Bøås, Ph.D Photograph of the Menaka region in Mali. Credit: UN Photo/Harandane Dicko