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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

In responding to Abu-Nimer’s framing article, this paper offers points of agreement and difference in an effort to deepen our collective understanding of the phenomenon of violent extremism and the responses needed to enable effective transformation. It does so first by offering a conceptual shift to move beyond limitations of the current terminology and discourse. Second, it provides an overview of the relevance of identity to VE with particular attention to the centrality of gender to the ideology, recruitment and action of violent extremists, as well as the importance of women in particular in countering, preventing and providing clear alternatives to such groups. In doing so, it challenges Abu-Nimer’s assertion that the inclusion of women is often externally driven and that they are thus being instrumentalised.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini

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

Warbixintaan waxay ka hadleysaa arimaha Soomaalida khuseeya iyo waxa aay ka aaminsanyihiin colaadda iyo dib u heshiisiinta, gaar ahaan kuwa dega gobolka Hirshabelle. Warbixinta waxay diiradda saareysaa aragtida ku saabsan amniga guud ee degmooyinka, colaad aha noocyadooda kala duwan ee ka jira degmooyinka, arimo muhiim ah oo colaadda huriya, dadka ugu muhiimsan ee colaadda qeybta ka ah, hindisayaasha hadda jira ee colaadda lagu maareyo, caqabadaha hortaagan dhex dhexaadiyasha, iyo baahida iyo shuruudaha ku x iran dib u heshiisiin iyo dhex dhexaadin.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Abass Kassim Sheikh

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

The history of this manual goes back to November 2012, when the Berghof Foundation’s Caucasus Programme gathered young people from Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia to learn how to record biographical interviews and discuss questions of history, memory and conflict. This was the starting point of a process involving Georgian, Abkhaz and South Ossetian stakeholders of war-memorialization: the “Berghof History Dialogue Process”.

• Year2018

This article critically examines the emerging CVE/PVE field and explores an alternative approach to address two core questions: how do various CVE/PVE approaches relate to current issues of violent extremism (VE) in Muslim communities, and what are the areas of intersection between interreligious peacebuilding and the various CVE/PVE approaches? In exploring the responses to these two dimensions, it is essential to analyse the assumptions and functions that CVE/PVE fulfil in the current crisis that faces many Muslim and non-Muslim governments around the world, especially in Europe and North America. Since “countering Islamic” terrorism and VE (based on the misperception and assumption that Muslims are disproportionately responsible for acts of violence) constitute the core of CVE/PVE approaches, it is necessary to explore whether this is the most effective method in confronting “Islamic threats”.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Mohammed Abu-Nimer