Radicals: The British Counterterrorism Challenge in the Wake of the Manchester and London Attacks

Summary

The Program on Extremism hosted a discussion on the wave of terrorist attacks in the UK in 2017 and possible responses. A panel of counterterrorism experts from the UK discussed the threat to the country after the 2017 London and Manchester attacks. The panel included four prominent British experts:

• Jamie Bartlett, Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos
• Robin Simcox, Margaret Thatcher Fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom
• Simon Staffell, Counsellor, Counterterrorism and Security Science and Technology at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.
• Dr. Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, Research Director for the Program on Extremism

In addition to the panel discussion on terrorism in the UK, Jamie Bartlett discussed his new book Radicals Chasing Utopia: Inside the Rogue Movements Trying to Change the World. The collection of essays includes the stories of the "strangest and most exciting innovators, disrupters, idealists, and extremists who are trying to remake the world". The groups covered are spread across multiple political spectra, from transhumanist political parties to far-right European nationalists and modern utopian societies. One chapter analyzes the UK government's countering violent extremism program successes and failures, Prevent, and what it means for liberal democracies attempting to curtail the spread of illiberal ideas.