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This response to Mohammed Abu-Nimer’s 'Alternative Approaches to Transforming Violent Extremism. The Case of Islamic Peace and Interreligious Peacebuilding' is focused on the question of what makes prevention of violent extremism approaches effective. It will explore in more detail some of the points raised in the lead article related to an insufficient understanding of structural drivers of violent extremism (VE), the limited evidence base and research in relation to the ‘prevention’ or ‘countering’ of violent extremism (P/CVE), unrealistic donor expectations, and weak and externally imposed programme designs. It specifically responds to the encouragement of Abu-Nimer’s request to “delve deeper” into analysing structures of violence, not only the symptoms (Abu-Nimer 2018, 17).

This article will explore how to maximise the potential for positive peace impacts of different approaches to preventing violent extremism by applying principles from the peacebuilding field and a systems perspective.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Anita Ernstorfer

This article will trace how religious institutions have dealt with the phenomena of radicalisation and violent extremism since the early 1970s and the role these institutions have recently played in C/PVE programmes. My essay intersects with the discussion in the lead article on the lack of clear long-term strategies and tool kits that assist religious institutions to participate effectively in C/PVE programmes without threatening their credibility with their constituencies. (1) This includes the necessity of empowering the religious institutions to develop tools and frameworks that use the language of faith and reflect their spiritual and religious traditions. (2) Based on the impact of a certain securitisation of C/PVE approaches in the region on the religious institutions and their constituencies, I am convinced that it is important for religious institutions to rebuild the trust with their constituencies based on the principle of inclusivity and enhanced outreach efforts.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Radwan Al-Sayed

This interview with Rudine Jakupi, Garentina Kraja, Rrona Kamberi, Redion Qirjazi, Sefer Selimi, Romario Shehu, Sead Turcalo and Nejra Veljan is an edited conversation with a team of researchers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia who are researching issues of radicalisation, violent extremism and prevention in the region and their respective countries. The interview was recorded in Sarajevo on 27 March 2018 and edited for brevity and clarity. Berghof Foundation works with the researchers interviewed here in the context of the participatory research project "Opportunities for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in the Western Balkans".

• Year2018

This comment on the lead article to our Handbook Dialogue on Transformative Approaches to Violent Extremism discusses Abu-Nimer’s suggestion to engage more seriously with religious agencies and actors, using Iraq as an example.

It examines how religion and its identity components are being integrated in project structures of international NGOs (INGOs) in Iraq and the limitations of this approach. It also presents the negative impact of CVE/PVE approaches on practitioners in the field of international media development. Finally, the article discusses the German Government’s ‘Live Democracy!’ to support the call for a holistic ‘idealism’ approach in PVE.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Maral Jekta

Berghof Handbook Dialogue No. 13 looks more deeply at what it takes to formulate transformative approaches to violent extremism. The lead article by Mohammed Abu-Nimer puts a call for interreligious peacebuilding centre-stage, which takes seriously and truly integrates the perspective of actors otherwise often defined as part of the problem. Respondents from a variety of backgrounds will, over the months to come, discuss these propositions. They will shed light on systemic contexts, the role of identity and gender, practice-oriented work with youth and regional contexts such as the Western Balkans and the MENA region.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Beatrix Austin, Hans-Joachim Giessmann

Diálogo – el intercambio significativo y significante de percepciones y opiniones – es uno de los métodos más frecuentes a los que las personas recurren cuando se trata de cuestiones conflictivas. Enfoques como mediación y negociación, a menudo utilizados para resolver diferencias a nivel político y social, incorporan elementos de diálogo, más si se está tratando con un diálogo de alto nivel, como el que se sostuvo en el Yemen o en Sudán en los últimos años por medio de reuniones regionales o encuentros comunales. En estos escenarios de conflicto es crucial que se proceda convocando y celebrando reuniones de diálogo cuidadosamente – especialmente en aquellos con el potencial de tornarse violentos. A pesar de un sinnúmero de manuales y reflexiones sobre el buen diálogo, la pregunta de cómo prepararse y establecer un diálogo exitoso sigue siendo apremiante e intrigante para los y las practicantes y académicos/as por igual.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Norbert Ropers

This input paper was provided in the framework of a workshop on the roles of women in counter-radicalisation and disengagement (CRaD) processes organized by the Berghof Foundation in Beirut in August 2017. The author looked into best practices and lessons learned from Europe and the Arab World. She also analysed the dynamics of the workshop and introduced among others the recommendations put forward by the participants.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Jennifer Philippa Eggert

This article explores how emotions significantly arise in and through situational interactions, which either contribute to or weaken parties’ agency. Four forms of interaction are suggested that shape emotional dynamics in conflict and conflict transformation: (1) cooperative interaction, which leads to positive emotional energy (EE) such as confidence and trust that promote action, (2) dominating interaction, in which the dominating party gains more positive EE than the dominated party, (3) conflictual interaction, which generates negative EE that drives conflictual action, and (4) disengaged interaction, which causes loss of focus, boredom, indifference and fatigue.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Isabel Bramsen, Poul Poder

This paper examines the unsuccessful efforts to instigate a National Dialogue in Libya over 2011-14. It uses the Libyan case to hypothesise that for National Dialogues to be successful, the context and conditions under which they are inaugurated must be favourable, and seeks to identify what conditions in Libya combined to cause its early efforts to falter. The paper first analyses what conditions existed in Libya 2011-14 and why they led to the view that a National Dialogue was necessary. It then addresses the conditions under which the National Dialogue was established, and also analyses the various alternatives to National Dialogue mooted during this time. In its conclusion, the paper attempts to extract what lessons or principles can be drawn from the Libyan case that are of relevance to future National Dialogue design processes, and to the case literature on this mechanism.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Felix-Anselm van Lier

This report discusses the pertinent concerns and perceptions of Somalis about conflict and reconciliation issues in the areas in which they live in Hirshabelle State. The report focuses on perceptions related to the general security situation of the districts, various types of conflicts that exist in the districts, critical factors that drive conflicts, key stakeholders of the conflicts, current initiatives for managing the conflicts, challenges faced by the mediators, and the needs and prerequisites for reconciliation and mediation. The report highlights similarities and differences between the districts of the state, though it should be noted that the similarities exceed the differences. The findings of the assessment are rich and complex. Four significant highlights will be presented in more detail.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Abass Kassim Sheikh