Understanding the challenge of ideological extremism

Abstract

Terrorism remains the main threat to the West not only from Muslim countries, but from Western homegrown Muslim communities too, turning Islamist Terrorism into an increasingly global phenomenon. Lethal combination of an ideological hub embodied in Al-Qaeda, spreading through new communication technologies like internet, a sophisticated and far-reaching network of media and phenomena, such as immigration in combination with regional nods of terrorism, increase the offensive potential of terrorist groups. New regional centers in Africa, Asia or Western countries where homegrown communities have been influenced by Islamism, and new potential weapons add increased power projection to these movements. Of capital importance is the fact that most Muslim countries either lack the means to counter this threat or prefer to appease such groups and their breeding educational and training centers. This article assesses the mitigation strategies to counter terrorism, changing focus from target protection, to a strategic approach, combining hard and soft measures, increasing intelligence capabilities and, in particular, mitigating socioeconomic grievances that fuel appeal for extremist ideologies going beyond tactical approaches that only focus on military measures.