Episode 4: Connections Between Development and Preventing Violent Extremism

Decoding Counterterrorism

Hosts Jessica White and Raffaello Pantucci are joined by Simon Finley and Emily Winterbotham to discuss the opportunities and challenges where development efforts and preventing and countering violent extremism meet. The development field offers a range of interventions designed to respond to ongoing structural problems, such as systemic poverty and lack of educational or vocational opportunities, as well as encouraging social and economic development. This field often has a much wider base of resources than the more limited budgets and time allocations of interventions designed to prevent and counter violent extremism, which more specifically address where these structural problems can feed into violent extremist narratives and recruitment. Thus, connecting these two fields could allow for a more comprehensive approach to addressing the structural drivers of violent extremism.

With the shrinking capacity for counterterrorism among other security concerns, it may become increasingly necessary for these two fields to be combined. So, what are the most effective and efficient ways to integrate preventing violent extremism goals within development efforts, while mitigating potential harms?