Confronting the Ideology of Radical Extremism
By Matthew Levitt
Today, President Obama visited the National Counterterrorism Center where he told analysts "We will target Al-Qaeda wherever they take root, we will not yield in our pursuit." But asthe United States continues to fight on multiple fronts to disrupt the efforts of al-Qaeda and its affiliates, the U.S. government has slowly come to realize that military force alone cannot defeat radical Islamist extremism. Today, there is a growing consensus that countering the ideology that drives this extremism is a critical element in the overall effort to prevent extremist acts of violence. Despite this greater realization, developing a precise strategy to counter extremism effectively and empower mainstream alternatives has proved challenging. The issue posed a difficult challenge to the Bush administration and remains a daunting and urgent task for the Obama administration.
This week the Journal of National Security Law & Policy published an article by myself and my colleagues J. Scott Carpenter and Michael Jacobson entitled "Confronting the Ideology of Radical Extremism." The full article is available here.
