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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.

• Year 2018
• Author(s) Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini

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.

• Year 2018
• 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.

• Year 2018
• 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".

• Year 2018

In this reflection on the responses to my lead article in the Dialogue issue at hand, I want to highlight two principles which need to be kept in mind when shaping CVE and PVE initiatives, because these principles can enhance our capacity to design more realistic and conflict-sensitive interreligious peacebuilding initiatives. First, religious actors cannot be responsible for curing the phenomena of violent extremism (VE), simply because they are the not the only agencies that contribute to the emergence, dynamics or results of violent extremists’ campaigns. Second, there are many other agencies of social and political change that operate in any given context where violent extremism manifests itself – and it is only in engaging together that these agencies can hope to find effective transformative approaches to violent extremism.

• Year 2018
• Author(s) Mohammed Abu-Nimer

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.

• Year 2018
• Author(s) Maral Jekta

This strategic framework was developed during the 8th Meeting on Negotiations entitled The Implementation of Accords and the Role of International Third Parties held in October 2016, in Berlin. It provides an overview of some of the most frequent challenges Resistance and Liberation Movements (RLMs) are facing with regard to the implementation phase of peace agreements and ways to overcome them. This overview aims at giving our readers the possibility to reflect and improve their strategies in the nexus of negotiation and implementation.

• Year 2017
• Author(s) Nico Schernbeck, Luxshi Vimalarajah

Diaspora organisations (DOs) are newly recognised actors in the humanitarian space. DOs respond to crises such as those in Syria, Somalia, and Nigeria, which have shown the limitations of the traditional humanitarian sector. Their contributions to emergency response are under-studied and, as our research shows, often misunderstood due to a gap in knowledge about their work.

• Year 2018

This exploration decidedly disengages from the prevalent discourses on youth, which are already quite well-covered in literature: ‘they are both troublemakers and peacemakers’ or ‘they are a special and potent category of peace agents, and therefore need to be empowered’. Rather, the focus of this exploration is on existing stories of dialogic and mediative efforts in the youth space, in an attempt to bring to light some insights usually left in the dark, and to stimulate a discourse hitherto absent. This is deemed particularly timely, given the inception of a myriad of initiatives since the adoption of Resolution 2250.

• Year 2018
• Author(s) Mir Mubashir, Irena Grizelj

The aim of this paper is to describe the reality of local authority legislation in Yemen, underline its strengths and weaknesses, identify the main obstacles to its implementation, and present suggestions for improving it. To attain these objectives, an integrated approach was followed based on the review and analysis of existing literature and official documents, as well as one-on-one interviews with a number of public administration leaders at central and local levels.

• Year 2018
• Author(s) Ahmed Mohamed Al-Mawari