CPSA/ISA-Canada section on International Relations

C21 - Violent Extremism and Terrorism

Date: Jun 1 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location: Classroom - CL 313 Room ID:15736

Chair/Président/Présidente : David Walsh-Pickering (Queen's University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Gavin Cameron (University of Calgary)

Session Abstract: The increasing and evolving threat of global terrorism has become a source of concern for Canada. New challenges arising from international and domestic trends related to terrorism, including the foreign fighter phenomenon, the rampant spread of violent extremist ideologies, and a dramatic increase in terrorist incidents worldwide, have necessitated a more holistic approach to counter violent extremism and terrorism. The focus of policy and practice in this area has shifted towards addressing the drivers of radicalization and violent extremism to curb recruitment to extremist groups. In line with these efforts, countering violent extremism (CVE) has garnered attention from both the academic and policy-making worlds. While the CVE field holds promise as a significant development in counterterrorism (CT), formal program evaluation methodologies remain lacking, complicating the policy-making process in this area. Furthermore, building resilience to violent extremism at the community level is continuously challenged by an overly securitized narrative that has exacerbated divisive social undercurrents such as rising Islamophobia, xenophobia and far-right sentiments. In turn, the deepening gulf in understanding between particular groups in society has made it difficult to mobilize a whole of society effort that is so critical to the success and sustainability of CVE. This proposed panel aims to advance academic discussions on some of these pressing challenges and, in grounding them in the Canadian context, flesh out key policy recommendations to chart a way forward.

An Analytic Survey of Canadian Literature on Religion, Radicalization and Terrorism: Ali Dizboni (Royal Military College)
Abstract: Over the years, prominent commentators have praised Canadian multiculturalism as a model of successful integration and recommended its lessons for emulation to other Western countries. A number of them, in fact, point to Canada's record of positive inter-ethnic and interfaith relations as exceptional within the Western world. In this presentation, I will explore if Canada is as exceptional as portrayed and will review some of the key findings from public opinion polls, government discourse and academic research on the perceived and conceived linkages between Islam/Muslims and terrorism/radicalization. This paper is an attempt, possibly the first, to examine the securitization of Islam and Muslims in Canada at these three levels and offers a somewhat different perspective on the issue. In fact, the thrust of public polls, academic research and government discourse does associate the presence of Muslims with security issues. Nevertheless, what may make Canada somewhat exceptional is the fact that the current government's discourse categorically dissociates a correlation between Islam and security threats. Put simply, the ways in which Canada's current Government articulates its statements on the securitization of Islam and Muslims clearly diverges from its predecessor as well as from the mainstream public polls and academia.

Drawing from International Lessons to Enhance Canada’s Approach to Countering Violent Extremism: Stéfanie von Hlatky (Queen's University)
Abstract: The Canadian government has initiated a review of its national strategy to counter radicalization leading to violence. To date, policy efforts to counter violent extremism (CVE) have been undermined by persisting gaps in knowledge and practice. In particular, formal program evaluation methodologies remain lacking, thereby inhibiting the development of a robust evidence base of good practices. To support the improvement of Canada’s CVE efforts, it is useful to draw on best practices and lessons learned from other countries that have implemented well-established national CVE plans. Specifically, this presentation will assess Denmark’s Aarhus model, as well as the LA model in the US, to highlight successful practices that can inform policy formulation in Canada. Furthermore, it will take heed of problematic practices and lessons learned from other contexts such as the UK, in order to better anticipate how specific CVE tools and strategies can result in unintended consequences that undermine overall efforts.

The Social Implications of CVE Policy Failures : Nora Abdelrahman Ibrahim (Queen's University)
Abstract: Previous efforts in the domain of counterterrorism (CT) and its emerging successor, countering violent extremism (CVE), have led to unintended consequences that have continuously undermined these initiatives. While there is a clear connection between the policy failures and the persistence of violent extremist attacks, the harmful social consequences that are a result of these policy failures are somewhat understated in comparison. Indeed, many of the tools and strategies of CVE and CT programs are now known to play into the push and pull factors that lead individuals to radicalization, and ultimately, violent extremism. In particular, the focus on Islamic-inspired terrorism has led to a dangerous securitization of ethnicities, with security charged language and attitudes seeping into counterproductive narratives in both the political and public spheres. This atmosphere has helped amplify divisive rhetoric such as Islamophobia and other xenophobic sentiments, supported the stigmatization of particular groups, and alienated significant parts of civil society that can meaningfully contribute to CVE, and the building of resilience more broadly. This presentation will address some of these issues and highlight the need to rebrand and reconceptualize CVE as well as improve political and public discourses. It will also explore the potential of tapping into other fields such as public health, to help reframe the issue of violent extremism and mitigate some of these damaging consequences.

Religion, Ideology, and Militants: A Genealogy of Jihadi Salafi Groups: Yaqub Ibrahimi (Carleton University)
Abstract: Islamist oriented extremism has become a focal point of debate in areas of international security and international relations. Militant groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, primarily motivated by a particular strand of Islamist ideology, have expanded globally. Despite numerous publications on the post-9/11 Islamist oriented extremist groups, the genealogy of those groups has not attracted scholarly debate. In characterizing them, scholars have used terms such as terrorist groups, Islamist groups, extremist groups, Salafi groups, Jihadi groups and the like interchangeably. This has led to a terminological chaos in the literature. Therefore, the distinction of those groups from the universe of extremist groups within the context of their historical development and ideological particularism requires in-depth research. Considering the problem, this paper conceptualizes the Islamist oriented militant extremist groups, traditionally known as terrorist groups, Salafi-Jihadi groups (SJGs) and indicate how they branched from the broader tradition of Salafism under particular international political circumstances. The paper examines the ideological and historical origins of SJGs within the broader Salafi/Islamist movement and distinguishes them from other forms of Islamist groups on the basis of their ideological and international political preferences. The paper argues that SJGs draw on a minority strand of Salafi ideology, Salafi-Jihadism, which became attractive in Salafi communities after the end of the Cold War. This paper contributes to international security debate on terrorism by providing a clearer image of SJGs within the universe of similar organizations.

Fragile States and International Security: Domestic Conditions and International Consequences of State Fragility: Yaqub Ibrahimi (Carleton University)
Abstract: The relationship between state fragility and the emergence of Salafi Jihadi Groups (SJGs), conventionally known as terrorist groups, has been a controvertible issue in both academic and policy debate. The literature on the rise of SJGs examine the causes of the phenomenon at three levels of analysis, namely, individual, group and international levels. Thus, individual extremists’ desire for jihad, Salafi-Jihadism as a group ideology, and the sole great power’s post-Cold War strategy in the Middle East are considered as the three dominant root causes of the emergence of SJGs in the literature. If these three causal determinants are to hold, it begs the question of why SJGs do not emerge in every Muslim country where these elements persist. Why, for instance, did individual jihadis’ personal desire for transnational jihad, Islamist ideology, and the U.S. post-Cold War strategy produce SJGs in Afghanistan and post-Saddam Hussein Iraq but not in Saudi Arabia and Iraq under Saddam? What factor, then, is responsible for this different outcome in countries which in terms of the presence of the root cause of SJGs are similar? Taking these questions into account, I consider the degree of state fragility in Muslim countries to be responsible for this contradictory outcome. I hypothesize that if the root causes of the emergence of SJGs at individual, group and international levels are in place, then specific aspects of state fragility in a Muslim country(s) provide the conditions necessary for the establishment of those groups.

UN Peacebuilding Projects and Preventing Violent Extremism in Central Asia: Chuck Thiessen (Coventry University)
Abstract: This paper examines the consequences of the recent adoption of ‘preventing violent extremism’ (PVE) as the overarching conceptual framework for the development of UN peacebuilding projects in Kyrgyzstan. Emerging peacebuilding projects in Kyrgyzstan are aligned with the UN Secretary General’s ‘Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism’ (2016), and are moving away from previous efforts to improve majority-minority ethnic relationships following the violent clashes of 2010 towards countering the involvement of citizens in global terrorism and ISIS. This paper’s discussion contributes to an evolving body of scholarship on the transference of peacebuilding norms across levels of intervention and whether global prescriptions for PVE align with conceptions of peace and security held by local governments, civil society, and populations in conflict-affected countries. This paper bases its findings upon a collaborative ‘learning history’ process of reflection and interviews with policy-makers and implementers of PVE at UN Headquarters in New York and in Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek & Osh city/region). A ‘learning history’ process brings the history of UN project development and implementation to life as it charts and dissects the experiences of those involved. Data analysis has revealed that the strong injection of global PVE norms has required a much less inclusive and participatory project development process than previously experienced inside the UN system in Kyrgyzstan. This lack of inclusion in UN project development has side-lined important debates over the local drivers of violent extremism and left some potential consequences of PVE unexplored such as state suppression of political engagement by minority ethnic groups.

1035.Thiessen.pdf