Prevention of violent extremism: “What are the people saying?”, Alexis Everington

In this 2011 paper, Alexis Everington - formerly of the BDI’s commercial partner, SCL - gets into the meat of audience research. The project, which was funded by the US Department of Defense, collects diverse perspectives on counterterrorism into a single book.

Everington draws on detailed audience data from Afghanistan, Mexico, Pakistan, Yemen and others, and highlights the importance of common enemies in driving radicalization by enforcing a binary between ‘us and them’. He also highlights a related dynamic in particularly unstable locations such as Afghanistan; a tendency to ‘sit on the fence’ and commit to neither side as a survival strategy. Finally, he examines the data, and dispels some myths: poverty, religiosity and exposure to the media play little or no role in radicalization. Overall, he calls for a recognition that local realities will always outweigh Western priorities, and that behaviour must be understood in a deeply localized context, rooted in the concerns of the audience.

The collection also includes a valuable article by Steven R. Corman of Arizona State University: ‘Understanding the role of Narrative in Extremist Strategic Communication’. It additionally contains valuable perspectives on the role of identities in radicalization, examined by William D. Casebeer. Paul Davis investigates deterrence and influence with regard to Violent Extremist Organizations. Several authors also look at countering terrorism through the media: Evelyn A. Early examines the cultural role of Arab sattellite television, while Anthony Lemieux and Robert Nill look at the role of music in promoting and countering violent extremism.

You can read these articles at the link below.

Everington, Countering Violent Extremism