The UN recently made a new call for states to repatriate their citizens from camps in Syria. About 19,000 children come from Iraq and 8,000 from elsewhere. Western Balkan countries, as many others, have been hesitant to bring all...
COVID-19 and Preventing Violent Extremism: PREVEX Research Notes
The COVID-19 pandemic is directly and indirectly affecting governments’ ability to prevent violent extremism effectively and presents core challenges to the counter-terrorism community globally. According to renowned anti-terrorist expert Professor Magnus Ranstorp, ‘COVID-19 and extremism are the perfect storm’....
The Failed Ideological Hybridization of the Islamic State
How did shadow competition between the Islamic State’s (IS) various radical ideological factions lead the organization into an open and extremely violent internal war? n this article, PREVEX researcher Djallil Lounnas analyses the origins and ideological foundations of the...
Future challenges of violent extremism in the Western Balkans
Western Balkan countries face a new security challenge: the deradicalization and reintegration of returnees. By 2017, at least 310 adults had returned to the region and it was estimated that another 460 – mostly women and children – remained...