Violent Extremism Research Articles

Planning Policies and Public Health in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and Its Policies to Combat COVID-19 in Duhok City

Purpose: The Kurdistan region of Iraq had been affect by the covid pandemic like the rest of the part in the world and Duhok city specifically faced several problems as the city and health policy were not ready to ace the crises. It had a negative impact on the sustainability of health sector specifically the economic side. This study tries to identify the problems to achieve tan appropriate standard of good health among Kurdistan's general population, especially in the city of Duhok, to ensure more equitable access to health services throughout the country's social and geographic expansion, take into account poverty and to strive to get better treatment, understand the condition of the city of Duhok via COVID-19, and how the government deals with the medical system in this condition, protect and encourage the right to health care for individuals and create equality in the health care system for both genders, beliefs and positions. Methodology: Through conducting the qualitative research approach by using two types for collecting data ( Data Collection Methods) which are primary data and secondary data, primary data for collecting direct information from patients and IDPs and refugees to know their health conditions and whether they are satisfied or not for public health system, physicians as well to know their treatment to patients, and secondary data to gather information from health directorate in Duhok city, camp health administration and humanitarian health organizations to understand better the situation. Findings: The findings of the study indicates that the pandemic struck at a time when public faith in the government was low, the economy was damaged by lower oil sales income, protests were common across the country, and violent extremist acts were on the rise. COVID-19 has worsened long-standing and sometimes deep-seated political, economic, social, and security issues. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic loss of human life around the world, posing an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems, and the workplace. The pandemic's economic and social impact is devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people is currently estimated to be nearly 690 million, By the end of the year, the number could have risen to 132 million. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Food security, public health, and employment and labor issues, particularly worker health and safety, all intersect during the COVID-19 crisis. However, in Azadi hospital we cannot talk to people because of virus, the risk of contracting COVID-19 via an infected person's feces appears to be low. The COVID-19 virus may cause intestinal infection and be found in feces, according to some data.

Rethinking Insecurity and Scoping Security Threat in Nigeria: Looking Ahead

Early in the 2000s, Boko Haram emerged with an Islamisation agenda concentrating mostly on Nigeria the largest African economy. There is empirical evidence suggesting that the government of Nigeria has not successfully warded off this group’s hostility. Yet there are gaps in security threats and extant literature. This study therefore examined the instability and anomic conditions resulting from this insurgency using the document analysis method and the Containment Theory employed as the theoretical framework. The analysis showed that there is no clear reason why the Nigerian military has failed to contain the Boko Haram insurgency given the army’s undoubted gallantry after excelling in several international peacekeeping assignments. It was recommended that public programs for enlightenment through community engagement and transparency would influence positively the government’s efforts to contain these terrorist activities. Given the complex nature of terrorism, there is a need for robust empirical studies that have to be done before any meaningful policy implementation can be considered. This study will amplify the international awareness of violent extremist activities in this most populated African nation. It will significantly provide the Nigerian government, human rights groups, researchers, civil society, policymakers, and public and private security agents with more knowledge to understand these terrorists better. Keywords: Nigeria, Threat, Peace, Security, Boko Haram

Predictive Police Proactive Actions Against Extreme Violence: strengthening police intelligence - the Brazilian case

Predictive Police Proactive Actions Against Extreme Violence: strengthening police intelligence - the Brazilian case

Multi-agency counter-terrorism in Britain and Norway: Intelligence agencies and the administration of welfare

This article explores the emergence of new counter-terrorism programmes in the Britain and Norway through which intelligence and security agencies administer welfare. Support and resources are covertly allocated to persons identified as potential threats, through multi-agency structures led by intelligence and security agencies. Unlike Countering Violent Extremism programmes, this multi-agency management is not led by the local municipality; nor are its participants asked to consent to participation. These new programmes are covert. To conceptualize the significance of intelligence agencies entering the space of welfare administration, Mitchell Dean’s work ‘Liberal Government and Authoritarianism’ is used to underline the traditional separation of agencies within liberal governmentality. Governing through freedom entails the ostensible separation of policing, education and care agencies – reflecting the categorization of the population into groups requiring varying levels of coercion to self-govern. To avoid governing too much, each category of population is allocated a specific agency. Traditionally, intelligence and security agencies have been positioned at the highest tier of repression. By entering the space of welfare administration (and thus social policy), intelligence and security agencies have disturbed the sectoral separation integral to liberal governmentality, leaving care and repression in an ever more ambiguous relationship.

"Merdeka"! and the dynamics of extreme violence; The first year of the Indonesian Revolution through the eyes of three Dutch journalists

In the first year after World War II, there was a power vacuum in Indonesia. The Indonesians had declared their independence. The Allies had assigned the administration of the former Dutch colony to the British. The Dutch thought they could continue their colonial ambitions. It was a year of utter chaos and extreme violence. While most Dutch journalists remained in Jakarta, three went to the war zones: two of them as reporters and the other as a soldier. The analysis of three texts on the first year of the Indonesian War of Independence by Dutch eyewitnesses shows the importance of subjecting them to closer scrutiny. In the massive focus on the violence in the Indonesian freedom struggle, literary texts of this kind are too often not taken into consideration, even though they are crucial to gaining an insight into the thinking about this war at that time. Because of their hybrid nature, this type of text is pre-eminent in revealing the tension between clashing conceptions, realities, and truths.

Housing Rent Control at the Micro Level: Perspectives from Southeast and East Central Europe, 1918–1924

This paper presents both statistical and qualitative analyses examining the micro-level repercussions of state intervention, specifically the implementation of rent control systems and requisitioning in the housing rental markets of Southeast- and East-Central European regions in the aftermath of the First World War. The numerical assessment relies on the calculation of the residual postwar purchasing power parity of prewar rents, while the qualitative analysis endeavors to reconstruct the daily dynamics of coexistence among conflicting parties, encompassing instances of extreme intimidation and violence.

Islamist Extremism in Australia: Tracing the Ideological Roots and Pathways to Radicalisation

Australia has not been immune from patterns of recruitment, attacks and foreign fighters harbouring the ideology of Islamist-jihadism. This paper draws on sociological data from a nationwide survey of 1034 Muslim Australians to analyse the way in which pathways to knowledge exist for Muslim Australians in relation to interpretations of Islam and, importantly, the adoption of an Islamist or Militant interpretation. Islamist and Militant typologies will be examined to see if their sources of Islamic influence were different or the same in their belief formation compared with more moderate typologies. This paper will also examine those participants who indicated that the Quran should be read literally and analyse the overall religiosity of the various typologies, with the aim to get a sense of the connection between (moral/ethical) belief formation and daily ritual of Islamists and Militants. This paper finds that Muslim Australians categorised as Political Islamist and Militant are more likely to have been influenced by mainstream areas of Islamic knowledge and discourse, such as the Quran, hadith, ulema, and the mosque, whilst also interpreting the Quran literally and praying daily. These findings suggest a challenging path forward for counterterrorism and countering violent extremism policies and programs in Australia.

Nkemvou, Nelo, and Tabula

Abstract The Cameroon Grassfields faced extreme violence during German colonization in the early twentieth century. The German colonial army used various strategies, such as armed attacks, executions, looting, hostage-taking, and other repressive measures. After military subjugation by the German colonial army, however, the use of various forms of violence continued. Germans made use of multiple strategies in this mountain region to procure laborers for the colonial apparatus on the coast. At the same time, they claimed to be fighting “slave trade” and “slavery.” However, the coercive measures and violence used for this purpose were and are often characterized by those affected and their descendants as forms of “slave trade” and “slavery.” This article adopts an actor-centered approach that combines written sources with corresponding oral accounts and sheds light on local narratives about “labor recruitment.” This will reveal how and why colonized actors conceptualized the systems of coercion they resisted against differently from the German colonizers. The article argues that taking the perspective of colonized actors into account calls into question the distinction between “slave trading” and “labor recruitment.”

Break the Hate: A Survey of Youth Experiences with Hate and Violent Extremism Online

As the most prolific users of the Internet, youth are exposed to a diverse array of harmful content and experiences, including cyberbullying and sexual exploitation. What is less well understood is the impact of hate and violent extremism on youth in these online spaces. This study surveyed over 800 youth from Alberta, Canada, to identify where they most frequently encountered hateful and extremist content online, how they react to it, and what they believed were the most appropriate responses to these problems. This study adds to a growing literature which takes youth perspectives seriously in the study of this problem. Our study found that more than three-quarters of youth surveyed reported encountering hateful content, while more than two-thirds reported encountering extremist content. Our findings add to a growing debate on the relationship between identity factors and exposure. While our results indicate respondents who identify as female are more likely to report encountering extremist and hateful content than males, intersectionality factors shed new light on the patterns of online exposure among youth. Specifically, we found that the effect of gender is mediated by other identity factors, like being a visible minority or identifying as 2SLGBTQ+.

Examining Online Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists During Peak Posting Days

Despite the ongoing need for practitioners to identify violent extremists online before their engagement in violence offline, little is empirically known about their digital footprints generally or differences in their posting behaviors compared to their non-violent counterparts particularly – especially on high-frequency posting days. Content analysis was used to examine postings from a unique sample of violent and non-violent right-wing extremists as well as from a sample of postings within a sub-forum of the largest white supremacy forum during peak and non-peak posting days for comparison purposes. Several noteworthy posting behaviors were identified that may assist in identifying credible threats online.

Hand-to-hand combat in the 21st century-INNOAGON warrior or modern gladiator?-a prospective study.

In being an important lifestyle factor, the physical activity influences people's health status, including life expectancy. Specific forms of physical activity are exercises related to hand-to-hand combat in the broadest sense, often overlapping and containing similar elements associated with combat sports (for Western culture) and martial arts (for Far Eastern culture). There are many types of forms of practising hand-to-hand combat exercises, which can be seen as opposing or in some ways complementary, e.g.: "traditional"-e.g., karate or kung fu, practised for hundreds or even thousands of years, usually adhering to moral codes of conduct, and drawing ideas from philosophy, religion vs. "modern"-e.g., American pro wrestling or mixed martial arts-MMA, suggesting a combination of various traditional forms of martial arts. In terms of shaping a healthy lifestyle with mental health elements based on the implementation of hand-to-hand combat exercises, an analysis of these fundamental insights into physical activity is warranted. This study aims to investigate the development direction of the hand-to-hand exercises in Western culture, opposing the "traditional" and "modern" forms. In this study, INNOAGON theory responds to the overuse of the term "science of martial arts". It is currently being used to promote extreme aggression and violence as an acceptable means of achieving success, and this model is expressively permeating other spheres of social interaction. In INNOAGON's understanding, hand-to-hand combat should be associated with the ancient thought of "doing good" (ancient Greece) or "wisdom" (Far Eastern cultures) including aesthetic and philosophical aspects. This links to numerous psychosocial benefits, self-esteem, discipline, body-mind coordination including breath control and relaxation, respect for others. The modern form of hand-to-hand combat, framed in these discussions as MMA or American pro wrestling, historically refers to the gladiatorial fights held during the Roman Games. The holding of fights in so-called "cages" refers to the arena in which Roman slave fights were held, and the athletes performing there are often referred to as modern-day "gladiators". Proper education, including education in the area of physical culture, leading to the development of a society turned towards values broader than just fun or self-satisfaction should be the basis for the development of the next generations. It actually remains to decide which path of social change we will choose: in the case of INNOAGON a positive one, and in the case of modern gladiator a destructive one. Only a proper education combined with a broad programme of social role modelling, social facilitation-the foundations of which are laid by INNOAGON-including promotion on the Internet and social media can provide the right counterbalance to the pathology increasingly penetrating our lives, leading to the promotion of aggression and threats to physical and mental health.

Power of the network and power from the network: Group processes and radicalization

The 3N model of radicalization posits that radicalization results from the confluence of the need for significance, the narrative, and the network. The network validates the narrative and rewards with significance those who adhere to it. Thus, it is critical to the radicalization process, leading scholars to suggest that no violent extremist truly acts alone. Similarly, understanding the role of the network is crucial to understanding and facilitating deradicalization, for one who is disillusioned with a violent extremist ideology may not leave their group if they lack an alternative group to replace it. This article discusses the power of the network in radicalization and deradicalization and proposes a novel theory of distinguishing between violent extremists who are more versus less influenced by their network, leading them to perpetrate violence in groups or on their own, respectively.

Coloniality, modern subjectivities in Kenya and exclusion of African women in preventing violent extremism

Cosmetic attention to contextual nuances has been a major obstacle in many programmes for preventing violent extremism (PVE) in Kenya. The study highlights how donor-funded interventions often disregard cultural values and local experience by posing a subtle resistance to learn from the knowledge of local actors. The non-recognition of contextual knowledge postures a gender problem, increasing chances for systemic exclusion of African women from the knowledge production system. The paper interrogates how modern subjectivities, entrenched in contemporary interventions, exude colonial legacies in PVE. Using decolonial theory and interviews with local practitioners, the study submits that many donor-funded PVE approaches risk pushing further the voice of indigenous African women to the periphery of knowledge production. The paper concludes that PVE interventions in the local context have an opportunity for reinforcing indigenous perspectives through a decisive decolonial strategy in the women peace and security agenda.

Do Livelihood Interventions Contribute to the Prevention of Violent Extremism?

In recent years, livelihood interventions have proliferated in response to violent extremism (VE) driven by socioeconomic challenges in the Sahel. This article evaluates two interventions in Mali targeting at-risk populations (talibés, detainees and former detainees) using a context–mechanism–outcome realist evaluation. Through a mixed-methods approach, Emmanuel Nene Odjidja, Samhita Ayaluri and Daria Fiodorov found that the interventions enhanced livelihood access and fostered trust between at-risk populations and the community. However, converting livelihood access into increased economic resilience for VE prevention requires contextual considerations. To promote VE prevention and resilience, they recommend integrating livelihood interventions with other peacebuilding efforts, addressing systematic, personal and process factors, and adopting a socio-ecological perspective. ■

Keeping up appearances: US domestic extremist organizations and the effects of membership on domestic terrorism perpetrators

ABSTRACT Within the broader discussion of US domestic terrorism, the impact of formal extremist groups on the behaviour of perpetrators of ideologically motivated crime stands as a key albeit under examined issue. Radicalization and terrorism have long been understood as group-driven processes, yet the degree and rate of group affiliation among US extremist offenders is highly variable, especially in the context of rising instances of lone actor attacks. This raises the question of the role that group affiliation plays in relation to perpetrators of extremist violence. For while discourse surrounding domestic terrorism has largely classified these organizations as facilitators or enablers of radicalization and extremist violence, patterns in recent years suggest these groups may in fact do the opposite and dampen the violent impulses of their members to preserve their organizational interests. This paper presents an analysis of data adapted from the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset as well as original data and finds that membership in formal extremist groups does appear to create a moderating effect on perpetrators of ideologically motivated crime, reducing the probability of group members in engaging in violence.

Case management interventions seeking to counter radicalisation to violence and related forms of violence: A systematic review.

Case management interventions seeking to counter radicalisation to violence and related forms of violence: A systematic review.

Legal Expertise as a Tool of Countering Violent Extremism in the Web 2.0

The paper deals with the results of the study aimed to countermeasure violent extremism in Web 2.0. The paper focuses on the results of the research entitled “Russian Legal Concept of Media Security” and implemented within the framework of the “Priority-2030” Academic Strategic Leadership Program. The increased number of public crimes committed in the new media using telecommunications technologies makes the study relevant. The study is aimed to improve the understanding of current and future global media security challenges and to explain how to resist them based on legal expertise. Legal expertise is characterized as a tool that can contribute to raising the general level of legal culture and, in this regard, the authors highlight that availability of law and language knowledge is relevant in solving criminal law issues regarding implementation of basic rights and freedoms in the digital environment. The authors examine public relations in the field of education, family relations and youth policy related to those who share traditional morality and focus on countering a destructive ideological impact on children, adolescents, and the youth, carried out in order to neutralize inimical inculcation of spiritual values alien to Russian society. The authors scrutinized social networking, a combination of mini web pages, blogs and searchable communities, to detect signs of extremist propaganda shared via internet communication as a key challenge Russian society is facing nowadays. They elucidate the importance of undertaking effective measures to protect the population from harmful effect of destructive extremist ideology and its negative psychological impact. An interdisciplinary study of media security in the paradigm of criminal law sciences was conducted on the basis of legal expertise — a comprehensive criminalistic, criminology, forensic, psychological and linguistic approach to counteracting a destructive ideological impact on adolescents and neutralizing the mechanisms of implanting alien moral values. The authors have systematized threats to traditional Russian spiritual values and proposed to amend legislation and law enforcement practice to improve media security. Deep efforts should be made to encourage zero tolerance for extremist actions in the information sphere among people, to form their competence to ensure media security, including effective recourse to legal (or forensic) experts and authorized entities in case of violations of the law.

Violent extremism in the hinterland of the ‘War on Terror’: comparative studies of Canada and Sweden

Violent extremism in the hinterland of the ‘War on Terror’: comparative studies of Canada and Sweden

Collective resilience in diaspora groups: a study of Kurdish youth in Canada and Sweden

ABSTRACT For decades, oppressive state policies have forced some Kurds to leave Turkey and seek refuge in Western countries, including Sweden and Canada. We conducted semi-structured interviews with Kurdish youth living in Canada and Sweden (N = 15) to explore the role of identity-related grievances in their involvement in the Kurdish movement, a political movement comprised of an array of actors including an armed group, political parties, and civil society organizations. By implementing the Building Resilience Against Violent Extremism (BRAVE) tool, we investigated their collective resilience against calls for violence, extremist views, and challenges caused by repression. Findings indicated that the major factors in their involvement were the restrictions on their language, culture, and identity; the discrimination and injustices against them and their community; the traumatic events that they experienced or witnessed; and the involvement of their family and community members in the movement. The overall resilience scores of the participants were high (M = 58.67 out of a potential 14–70), but they scored lower when their relationship with Turkish authorities is considered (M = 53.13; SD = 5.65) than with their host countries after resettlement (M = 58. 67; SD = 6.25).

Violent extremism: The journey in and the pathway out

Violent extremism: The journey in and the pathway out