Learning from Other Countries about CVE

If you are going to read one article regarding countering violent extremism (CVE), this is the one I would recommend. Eric Rosand unpacks CVE strategies of Australia, Canada, and the US. He then provides two recommendations for the US:

  1. Invest in and empower community-led efforts using funding from non-security/law enforcement agencies;
  2. Be precise and judicious regarding public discourse on violent extremism;
  3. Build trust with communities by using proper framing and terminology;
  4. Involve non-security/law enforcement agencies in all aspects of CBE work;
  5. Invest and mobilize resources/expertise to develop individual programs;
  6. Share information regarding best practices and other information; and,
  7. Pursue a federalized approach to counter violence.

While no country or CVE approach is going to be perfect, this is a great start at improving existing systems.

A Rare Study on Moral Judgments in Terrorists

From several recently released studies using a sample of 66 ex-combatants and 66 control participants showed considerable similarities in all investigated areas except one: Moral judgment. The 66 ex-combatants were incarcerated in Columbia and former paramilitary operators.

Baez, S., Herrera, E., Trujillo, N., Manes, F., Young, L., & Ibañez, A. (2016). Aberrant moral judgment in extremist terrorists. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 108. Doi:10.1016/j.iipsycho.2016.07.344

Baez, S., Herrera, E., Garcia, A. M., Manes, F., Young, L., & Ibañez, A. (2017). Outcome-oriented moral evaluation in terrorists. Nature Human Behaviour, 1. doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0118