This research was conducted in the context of a Somali state offensive in the Federal Member States of Hirshabelle and Galmudug that generated more territorial gains from al-Shabaab than any other military campaign since the mid-2010s. Such conditions provide fertile ground for disengagement from the insurgents, with many ex-members enrolled…

The Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* (1), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) represent a post-conflict region (2) facing various forms of violent extremism. At present, the Western Balkans face most problems with Islamist extremism (IE) and right-wing extremism (RWE). Between 2012 and 2016, more than 1 000 individuals…

In an ever-evolving technological landscape, digital disinformation is on the rise, as are its political consequences. In this paper, we explore the creation and distribution of synthetic media by malign actors, specifically a form of artificial intelligence-machine learning (AI/ML) known as the deepfake. Individuals looking to incite political violence are…

The recruitment of new members requires delicate secret steps by terrorist and extremist organisations. This vital organisational activity needs to be smart and effective, takes time, and can be discovered by security and intelligence services. This paper shows that recruitment is a flexible multi-tool process able to be smartly adapted…

Country Reports on Terrorism 2022 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act.

Many authors have deplored the scarcity of evaluations that assess the impact and effectiveness of programmes and policies in the field of Counter-Terrorism (CT) and Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE). This makes it difficult to understand which efforts to address violent extremism have had positive results, and what measures and methods…

In 2022, the United States witnessed both dramatic breakthroughs and calamitous setbacks on women’s rights, from Ketanji Brown becoming the first Black woman to sit on Supreme Court of the United States to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a legal precedent that protected a woman’s right to bodily autonomy…

This paper surveys the state of knowledge regarding development and humanitarian non-government organisation (NGO) responses to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). As well as delineating the nexus and shared objectives between P/CVE and development/humanitarian NGO frameworks, it outlines a reframing of the concept of VE into violent and hateful…

This paper identifies perceptions of injustice, grievance, and alienation as online drivers of radicalisation by concentrating on contemporary visual radicalisation patterns. It focuses on far-right agents of radicalisation in the UK with a particular analysis of visual and ephemeral drivers of radicalisation on social media platforms. We analysed widespread TikTok…

Institutional ethics review procedures aim – in principle – to minimise harm and evaluate risks, providing an important space to consider the safety of participants and researchers. However, literature has questioned the effectiveness of the process, particularly for reviewing ‘risky’ topics in a risk-averse environment. This article reports the findings…

Despite reports of longterm cognitive and emotional difficulties after exiting right-wing extremist groups, the latter stages of the extremist group member’s trajectory have been given little attention.1 This paper argues that clinical psychological theory has been underutilised in terrorism and extremism research in general, and, more specifically, that it can make…

Since the 2019 and 2022 terrorist attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, El Paso, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, both mainstream media and scholarly interest in ecofascism have increased significantly. This policy brief will illustrate how the contemporary far- and extreme right are exploiting the climate crisis and reviving white supremacist…