Terrorist Dropouts: One Way of Promoting a Counternarrative
By Michael Jacobson
As efforts to disrupt al-Qaeda and its affiliates continue, the U.S. government has slowly come to realize that military force alone cannot defeat radical extremism. Although al-Qaeda's ideas and those of like-minded groups must be challenged, it is clear that a single, overarching counternarrative cannot be expected to work across the board. To determine what might be effective among both the hardened individuals already in terrorist organizations and those well along the path to radicalization, it is useful to look at examples of people who have voluntarily walked away from these organizations. By analyzing these changes in perspective, governments can more effectively craft counterradicalization messages.
To read the rest of the article, which was published in the August issue of the journal "Perspectives on Terrorism," click here.
