A call for real heroes

WRITTEN BY Cindy J. Smith

Today the sound of the unsheathed scimitar gives rhythm to the videos produced by ISIS. Watching the videos’ merciless acts we ask ourselves “How is it possible a human being can generate such level of horror? How is it possible a person with a family, with dreams and skills has come to the point that the life of another human being is worth nothing?

Both jobs and justice in the ‘War on Terror’

WRITTEN BY Ernest Harsch

News headlines and television clips provide ample evidence of the military side of the ‘war on terror’: bombing raids against Islamic State fighters in Iraq, special forces incursions in Somalia, or ground operations against Islamist rebels in northern Mali. The killings of civilians by such insurgents generally provide the justification for forceful action. The heat of battle and the atmosphere of urgency often seem to leave government officials and military commanders little time to ask a fundamental question: Can terrorism be defeated primarily through arms?

Western Muslims volunteering to fight in Syria and Iraq: Why do they go, and what should we do?

WRITTEN BY Clark McCauley and Sophia Moskalenko

In this paper we first put ISIS volunteers in context by considering other examples of Americans citizens fighting in someone else’s war. Next we consider poll results indicating that many U.S. Muslims perceive a war on Islam and prejudice against Muslims; at least ten percent of younger U.S. Muslims justify suicide attacks in defense of Islam. Against this background it is perhaps surprising that only a few hundred U.S. Muslims have volunteered to fight in Syria. In the absence of accurate data about U.S. volunteers, we review what has been learned about the thousands of European volunteers for ISIS, many of whom seem to be pushed to action by individual-level mechanisms described by McCauley and Moskalenko in 2011. Finally, we raise doubt about current efforts to criminalize and block would-be volunteers.

Talking to terrorists: What drives young people to become foreign fighters for ISIS and other terrorist groups and what can be done in response

WRITTEN BY Anne Speckhard

The draw for young people to join a terrorist group has never been as strong as it is today. I know because I have spent over a decade interviewing over four hundred terrorists around the world and, in the case of suicide bombers who are already dead, interviewing their family members, close associates and even the hostages they held. My questions always centered on what put these (mostly young) people on the terrorist trajectory. Could their movement along this trajectory have been prevented? Once on the trajectory, could they have been moved back off it by some sort of intervention?

The semiotics of violent jihadist propaganda: The message and the channel

WRITTEN BY Massimo Leone

On the one hand, terrorism is the antithesis of communication. It does not aim at transmitting any message to its victims, but at annihilating them. On the other hand, yet, terrorism is extremely powerful communication for those who witness the tragedy, directly or through the media, and are either terrified or fascinated by it(1). Terrorist acts revolutionize the social attitudes of individuals and groups, pushing them to radically change their lifestyles. Those acts instill fear, but can also attract supporters’ admiration. From September 11 on, terrorist jihadist groups have resorted to increasingly sophisticated communication in order to accompany and influence the reception of their violent deeds.

Jihad as a lifestyle

WRITTEN BY Rik Coolsaet

‘Pop-jihad as a lifestyle’, so the Dutch Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism opined, when expressing his worries about the appeal of jihadist symbols to young Europeans(1). Starting in 2012, many thousands Europeans have travelled to join jihadist groups in Syria, in particular the so called Islamic State (aka ISIL or ISIS). Numbers vary from 3,400 to 5,000. By July 2015, from Belgium alone some 440 individuals have gone to the region (included are the 50 or so who never made it to Syria). But looking into the motivations and backgrounds of this relative large group from a small country might help to shed a light on the journey of Westerners to “a country they do not know, in a culture they are not familiar with, and where a language is spoken that they do not understand(2).“

The changing nature of women in extremism and political violence

WRITTEN BY Mia Bloom

(0)We remain fascinated by terrorist acts and how seemingly normal people transform into cold-blooded killers. We have certain preconceived notions about who becomes a terrorist and why. Much of the conventional wisdom and preconceived notions are more conventional wisdom that empirically based on reality and facts. Mohammed Emwazi previously known as ‘Jihad John’ an educated middle class British citizen who became notorious for beheading Western aid workers and journalists in Syria surprised many who saw an educated Westernized person with no history of radical views(1). The stereotypes about terrorists include faulty assumptions about sanity, a history of anti social behavior, poverty, or drug and alcohol abuse(2). More often than not, terrorist groups use these assumptions to their benefit. Among the many assumptions about level of education, wealth, and ethnic background inevitably has also been that of gender.

ISIS and illicit trafficking in cultural property: Funding terrorism through art

WRITTEN BY Annelies Pauwels

The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) recently shocked the world by destroying a number of archaeological sites throughout the region under its control, among which were the ancient Assyrian cities of Nineveh and Nimrud. Determined to impose its culture as the dominant one in the region, Daesh – the Arabic equivalent of ISIS – calls for the destruction of all cultural property of other religious groups, as well as Islamic artefacts it considers haram or forbidden in Islam, such as religious shrines and art depicting human faces. In reality, the trade in looted artefacts from Syria and Iraq to the rest of the world represents a major source of income for the terrorist group.

The governance of Roma people in Italy: A shifting paradigm

WRITTEN BY Alberto Mallardo

Foreword As suggested by the sociologist Luigi Manconi, Roma people(1) are unpleasant to many people and there is no doubt that some of them live committing crimes and inducing their children to beg. Although the Roma, like everyone else, are accountable for their actions, other factors have concurred to shape this situation. This article analyses the effectiveness and the outcome reached by the different policy measures towards Roma people adopted by the Italian Government since the spring of 2008.

The economics of ISIS A case of theft or money laundering?

WRITTEN BY Svenja Berg and Killian J. McCarthy

Introduction Founded in 2004, the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has striven to set up what they call an Islamic state within what is currently Syria and Iraq (Mirror, 2014). Since its inception, ISIS has prospered and expanded. According to CIA estimates, it has recruited 20-30,000 fighters, conquered a large swath of land and makes as much as two million US dollars a day.(1) Observers have already suggested that ISIS is probably one of largestand wealthiest terrorist organizations in the world.

Police community initiatives to prevent violent extremism: Challenges and opportunities, connectors and the transtheoretical model of change

WRITTEN BY Basia Spalek

The role that communities play in relation to violent extremism is controversial. On the one hand, communities might be viewed as possibly supporting or endorsing violent extremism, on the other hand, communities might be seen as helping to prevent or challenge violent extremism. There is also a wider question about what ‘community’ is, and whether its ill-defined nature means that it is ill-advised to use this as a unit of analysis. These varying positions reflect some of the complexities when trying to design and implement initiatives involving non-state actors and organisations to counter violent extremism.

Responding to foreign fighters: An overview of the main challenges (1)

WRITTEN BY Christophe Paulussen

Introduction: The foreign fighters phenomenon is currently omnipresent on the agenda of police officers, prosecutors, de-radicalisation experts, researchers, policy makers, municipalities, governments, international organisations and think tanks. The problem is too complex and multi-faceted to analyse in just a few pages. Therefore, the following article, based on a speech presented to the Council of Europe’s Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy on 16 March 2015, should merely be seen as a quick and elementary snap-shot, providing some basic features of the current problem.

Monitoring racist and xenophobic extremism to counter hate speech online: Ethical dilemmas and methods of a preventive approach

WRITTEN BY Andrea Cerase, Elena D’Angelo, Claudia Santoro

The rise of racism in Europe In recent years online racism has seen a quick and serious growth in many European and non-European countries, till to become a worrying global phenomenon.(1) One of the most striking examples of such process is the rise of White Supremacist Movements online. Their strategy mainly consists in disguising their hidden political agenda and attempting to subvert and destroy civil rights by presenting their standpoints through an overturn of the rhetoric of the civil rights movement.(2)

Green corruption More than “victimless” crimes

WRITTEN BY Vittoria Luda Di Cortemiglia and Annelies Pauwels

Perfect accomplice of eco-criminals, corruption allows those involved in illegal activities in the environmental field to make significant profits at the expense of the environment and citizens. Exploiting essential and inalienable goods of the community, the so-called phenomenon of “green corruption” represents a particularly serious form of corruption. In fact, illicit activities regarding the environmental sector pose a major threat to the preservation of the environment and to the health and safety of citizens, but also have a disastrous impact on the economy.

China strengthens the judiciary not the rule of law

WRITTEN BY Giovanni Nicotera

The fourth plenum of the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee ended on 24 October 2014. For the first time in the history of China this important party session was devoted to the rule of law. Considering that the country is ruled according to the one-party system without separation of powers, the event has led many to hope that time has come for China to initiate her path toward constitutionalism and democracy.

Online CBRN awareness training — Five lessons learned

WRITTEN BY Bryan Lee

The challenge Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents pose a rising threat to global safety and security. Many industries such as mining, pharmaceuticals, and health care rely on these materials to make the products or deliver the services all of us use every day, but these same materials can cause great harm in the event of an industrial accident or deliberate misuse. Unfortunately, many countries do not have the resources to prepare themselves adequately to respond to this threat. Equally troubling is the fact that international training and assistance programs are also under budgetary pressure, with many lacking the resources to develop the sustained follow-on training and cooperation necessary to address this threat fully.

Interview with the Mayor of Aarhus Jacob Bundsgaard

WRITTEN BY Marina Mazzini

Please outline the main elements of the Aarhus model to prevent radicalization. Generally speaking, the essence of the Aarhus model is preventing radicalization by working with at-risk citizens to improve their possibilities for inclusion in society and to help them develop better life skills. The specific intervention depends on the situation - for example, counselling parents or at-risk youth themselves, mentorship programs or parent networks. Regardless of the intervention, the aim is to include these at-risk youth in society again as active, participating citizens. But don’t get me wrong. If someone has committed a criminal offence, that person will be prosecuted and convicted as a matter of course.