The thesis undertakes an investigative analysis of the Quilliam Foundation, the world’s first counter extremism think tank. A strong opponent of Islamist ideology in its battle against extremism, since its formation Quilliam has attracted growing criticism. The thesis traces the reasons behind this criticism in order to answer the question posed - what went wrong for Quilliam? Issues of unsound theory, the influencing of government, the support of the Prevent policy and a series of public relations disasters has caused Quilliam to alienate the very people it needs to work alongside. Its actions have caused it to be mistrusted and to be deemed out of touch with what it mean to be Muslim in modern Britain