Alternative Approaches to Countering Violent Extremism

Summary

Over two days the Program on Extremism (PoE) at The George Washington University was invited to participate in a number of discussions on alternative approaches to countering violent extremism (CVE).

Alternative Dispositions Working Group at the Department of Justice (DOJ)

On November 9, PoE Director Lorenzo Vidino and Deputy Director Seamus Hughes participated in the fourth meeting of the Alternative Dispositions Working Group at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C.  Following the meeting, PoE, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at The Brookings Institution, jointly hosted a panel to discuss the causes and possible solutions to violent extremism. The panelists evaluated the success of an array of alternative approaches to CVE implemented across Europe and dispelled a number of the legal and ethical concerns often associated with CVE initiatives in the U.S. In sum, the panelists stressed that CVE initiatives must be uniquely tailored to each country’s political, social, and legal culture, and that prior to the implementation of these programs in the U.S. stakeholders must determine the appropriate scale of the program, the role of ideology and the government, and the resources necessary for success. The panel “Countering Violent Extremism Through Early Interventions” was moderated by Dr. William McCants, Director of the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, and featured insights from:

• Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism
• Daniel Koehler, Counselor for Hayat, a German intervention program that helps families prevent relatives from engaging in violent extremism
• Rashad Ali, Former member of Hizb ut-Tahrir who is trained in Islamic theology and jurisprudence
• Angela King, Deputy Director of U.S.-based Life After Hate, and co-founder of its ExitUSA program 

Resilience to Violent Extremism: Effective Intervention Approaches

On November 10, Vidino, Koehler, and Ali traveled to Suffolk Law School in Boston, Massachusetts to participate in an event jointly hosted by PoE and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. The event provided information about effective strategies for intervening in the lives of those displaying concerning behavior inspired by violent extremist ideology. Service providers, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, and crisis support and crisis intervention teams left with knowledge of specific ways to provide support and services to those in need.