Framing the UK’s counter-terrorism policy within the context of a wicked problem

Terrorist attacks can be seen as the ultimate wicked problem. After 9/11, terrorists moved from so-called ‘spectacular’ events to relatively low-intensity attacks against individuals and groups. The emergence of what has become known as the ‘home-grown’ terrorist has added a further dimension to the ‘wicked’ nature of the problem. This paper considers the UK’s CONTEST and PREVENT strategies as a policy response to the threats from terrorism and the impact that the policies themselves can have on the radicalization of individuals. The author highlights some of the limitations of the PREVENT strand of the overall strategy and the constraints that are imposed on government policies by failing to take a holistic perspective on the nature of the problem

Rebuilding Trust: 2021 Annual Report

Twenty years ago, our multilateral system, led by Kofi Annan, was able to develop effective solutions to massive challenges such as the toll taken by HIV/AIDS on African vulnerable populations. New institutions were put in place including the International Criminal Court or the Human Rights Council that carried the promise of justice on a global scale, while agreement was reached on the ambitious Millennium Development Goals.Today, as the world faces challenges that dwarf even the COVID pandemic, progress in multilateral fora seems impossible except on the smallest of common denominators. War, aggressive nationalism and authoritarianism have returned. We seem incapable of turning the tide of confrontation and violence.Technology and experience have given us the tools to predict conflicts, pandemics, climate change and other shocks and crises. And yet we seem unable to prevent them from happening. When they do occur, we can rely on elaborate mechanisms and a solid legal framework to facilitate international cooperation. And yet many leaders choose to ignore them and flout internationally agreed rules and standards.The Kofi Annan Foundation will carry on promoting a legacy of principled leadership and effective cooperation. With other members of the Board, I will continue to advocate obstinately for a greater focus on the vulnerable, for more innovative partnerships, for more effective prevention and for a reinvigorated multilateral system

Radicalization in British Columbia Secondary Schools: The Principals' Perspective

This essay summarizes a larger study into radicalization in secondary schools (Grades 8-12) in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, from the perspective of school principals and vice-principals (PVPs). In addition to determining the extent of radicalization, the study further explored the extent to which PVPs felt they were prepared to cope with radicalization in a school environment, and obtained their assessment of the training and resources available to help them deal with this phenomenon. Quantitative and qualitative data was acquired using a survey as well as interviews with PVPs. Research participants reported an unexpectedly low level of engagement by students in radical, extremist, or violent extremist behaviour during the 2014-2015 school year. Only 3% of PVPs surveyed believed that extremist or violent extremist behaviours had increased in their own schools during the previous three-year period, while 6.6% believed it had actually declined somewhat—or even substantially—during this timeframe. There was wide variance in the levels of confidence exhibited by PVPs in their capacity to deal with incidents of extreme or violently extreme behaviours, but most stated that they would welcome additional training on dealing with potential incidents. Only half of the interview participants claimed that the procedures and protocols in place to deal with incidents involving extremist behaviours were adequate. A consistently low level of radicalization was apparent in school environments where some factors that otherwise might trigger student radicalization were identified, explored, and resolved in a supportive and open minded manner by school staff

Reflecting upon the Greek state-school teacher’s changing role in the 21st century: an ‘ecosystemic’ approach

AbstractIn the 21st-century globalized context, education systems world-wide are challenged to respond to increasingly rapid and often unpredictable demands of the globalized society in an interdependent way towards achieving common education goals on a transnational level. In this globalized space, the Greek state-school teacher’s role evolves and changes towards thinking and acting both locally and globally, as an active participant of the global ‘ecosystem’. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the Greek state-school teacher’s changing role in the 21st century taking into consideration the global educational context in conjunction with the changing state-school context in Greece as well as the characteristics, challenges and changes of the teacher’s role internationally identified, both conceptual and practical, through an ‘ecosystemic’ approach

Educational Environments and Preventing Violent Extremism Policy Agendas: Perspectives and Implications

Concentrating on the educational space, this research considers the potential risk and protective factors that individuals may be most influenced by if affected by violently extreme ideologies. Methodologically, generating new data that specifically targeted parents and teachers involved in the educational field, this project sought to discover what the Australian public’s expectations are surrounding the implementation of P/CVE programmes in Australian schools and how these programmes should best engage with schools and their respective communities

Resilience as a protective factor against violent extremism: a systematic review of systematic reviews

Violent extremism (VE) threatens global security. Efforts to counter VE have focused on identifying factors that pull and push toward extremism. However, identifying individual and community qualities that buffer against VE remains insufficient and needs improvement. This review aimed to identify links between resilience and VE. A systematic review of systematic reviews (SR-SR) using the Campbell Collaboration review methodology was conducted. A 5-stage search of 12 databases yielded 17 systematic reviews with more than 2800 records. After evaluation by two reviewers using the AMSTAR appraisal tool, only nine systematic reviews received a high rating and were analyzed. Seven reviews identified clear and direct protective resilience factors against VE. The protective resilience factors were categorized as (1) individual resilience factors, (2) family resilience factors, and (3) community resilience factors. Community resilience as a theme of resilience appeared more frequently within the reviewed literature encompasses community engagement, collective identity, social support networks, and emotional orientation. The study provided insights linking resilience as a buffer to VE. This evidence will enable policymakers and preventing violent extremism efforts to mobilize and strengthen community resilience.   This research was funded by Naif Arab University for Security Science (NAUSS-SRC-21-02

How can cyberhate victimization and perpetration be understood?: Towards a psychological approach

The freedom of expression enabled through information and communication technologies (ICT) has been misused to create, (re)produce, and distribute cyberhate. Otherwise known as online hate speech, it refers to all forms of ICT-mediated expression that incites, justifies, or propagates hatred or violence against specific individuals or groups based on their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or other collective characteristics. This chapter aims to contribute to a comprehensive analysis of cyberhate among adolescents and adults. It is structured into three main sections. The first operationalizes the key conceptual characteristics, disentangles the similarities and differences between cyberhate and other forms of violence, and presents the known prevalence of victimization and perpetration. The second identifies the main sociodemographic correlates and discriminates the risk and protective factors with theoretical frameworks. The chapter concludes with recommendations for prevention and intervention strategies that demand a multi-stakeholder approach.This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi) School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDB/01662/2020), and through a PhD grant awarded to the first author (2021.07545.BD)