Jihadism in the West: Current Trends
September 26, 2022 at 10:00AM
The Program on Extremism at George Washington University and the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) hosted an event to explore current trends surrounding jihadism in the West. The current threat environment is multifaceted, constantly evolving, and challenging for Western governments to manage. Despite the deaths of both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda’s top leaders this year, their global networks of affiliates from Afghanistan to Somalia to West Africa and beyond remain resilient. As practitioners, policymakers, and researchers continue to grapple with the fallout from the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate, these networks continue to wreak havoc on local environments, as well as incite and inspire jihadist supporters in the West. Our panel of experts sought to address these challenging dynamics.
Speakers
Gina Ligon - Director, National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE)
Gina Ligon is the Director of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE). Gina received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Minor in Quantitative Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. Prior to joining University of Nebraska Omaha, she was a full time faculty member at Villanova University in the Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development. Her research program focuses on the identification and development of high level talent; she has specific expertise in innovation and leadership, and has published over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on these subjects.
Hugo Micheron - Visiting Research Fellow, Program on Extremism
Hugo Micheron is a visiting research fellow at The Program on Extremism and a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University's Institute for Transregional Studies. His dissertation, Le jihadisme francais, was based on surveys in French and Belgian neighborhoods affected by jihadist recruitment, interviews with convicted "returnees," and fieldwork in Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey. He is currently completing a quantitative study on interactions between distinct online Islamist communities.
Adrian Shtuni - CEO and Principal Consultant, Shtuni Consulting LLC
Adrian Shtuni consults for international organizations, academic institutions, think tanks, and private consulting firms in the United States, Europe, and Asia on preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE), counterterrorism (CT), political risk, and other transnational threats. He also designs and delivers P/CVE and CT training and capacity building programs to policy makers, researchers, civil society organizations, law enforcement officers, and media practitioners in different countries, implements country and regional projects in cooperation with local partners, and regularly provides commentary on security issues to media outlets in the U.S. and Europe.
Lorenzo Vidino - Director, Program on Extremism at George Washington University
Lorenzo Vidino is the Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. An expert on Islamism in Europe and North America, his research over the past 20 years has focused on the mobilization dynamics of jihadist networks in the West; governmental counter-radicalization policies; and the activities of Muslim Brotherhood-inspired organizations in the West. He is the author of several books and numerous articles, including The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West, and The Closed Circle: Joining and Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in the West.
Andrew Mines - Research Fellow, Program on Extremism at George Washington University (moderator)
Andrew Mines is a Research Fellow at the Program on Extremism, where he helps lead coverage of the global jihadist landscape through PoE's publication platform, Nexus. He is the audio editor of the podcast Mosul and the Islamic State, and an Investigator with the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE). Andrew's core research focuses on the Islamic State's affiliate in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region- the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). He is co-authoring a book publication on the group for release in 2023.