Violent extremist groups differ in many aspects – ideology, operations, and geography – but almost all seek and recruit disillusioned young men as fighters on their front lines. The ubiquity of this strategy means that young men are drawn to such groups less because of the groups’ specific beliefs and more out of an inherent need to fulfill their identities as men. Policies and analysis to counter violent extremism must therefore incorporate gender analysis thus “men-stream” their efforts – in order to identify factors that make men vulnerable to recruitment by extremist groups.