UK experts: Extremism stems from more than just ‘radical religion’
Armed police officers stand on duty in this file photo. (Reuters)
Jane Kinninmont, deputy head and senior research fellow of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, said that extremism is driven by a “whole complex of social and political factors,” rather than “deeply religious ideological factors.”
Speaking at the launch of a report by the Henry Jackson Society on Thursday, she identified divergent definitions of extremism as a barrier to countering terrorism.
“Definitions of terrorism are quite far apart,” both among GCC states, and between Gulf countries and the West. This throws up “problems for international cooperation,” she said at the event, held in the UK parliament’s House of Lords on Thursday.
With Gulf states adopting different narratives around the origins of extremism, she suggested that focusing on countering terrorism rather than extremism could be a more useful approach in the GCC.
The report, “Terror Overseas: Understanding the GCC counter-extremism and counter-terrorism trends,” highlights the need for the UK government to step up its support for GCC countries. To date, the emphasis has been on intelligence and information-sharing but more input is needed to bolster GCC modernization projects that tackle the root causes of extremism.
“The West is seen as a strong ally” in the GCC said the report’s author, Najah Al-Otaibi, research fellow at the Center for the Response to Radicalization and Terrorism at the Henry Jackson Society.
“The UK should support civil societies in the Gulf states,” and “play a larger role” in mobilizing counter-extremism projects across the region, she said, citing Saudi Vision 2030 as a “strong statement” in countering extremism.
“This is the right time for Saudi Arabia to address extremism … I think the crown prince has already started,” she said, listing recent reforms that include the sacking of a large number of radical imams in the Kingdom, promoting moderate scholars of Islam to positions of authority and quelling the powers of the religious police.
The new Saudi leadership is an opportunity to “break with some of the past records,” Kinninmont said.
“A lot needs to be done of course but I think the Vision is an opportunity to reform the Islamic narrative and replace it with a more liberal and a more tolerant discourse,” Al-Otaibi said.
“The last time Islam was reformed was 200 years ago.” It will take “a lot of work,” she added.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced plans to transform the Kingdom into “a tolerant country with Islam as its constitution and moderation as its method” via Vision 2030, his blueprint for a modern Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom’s large youth population, which stands at 70 percent under 30, presents a mounting challenge that the crown prince is confronting by rapping out reforms designed to improve access to education and employment for Saudi men and women.
Across the Middle East, almost 65 percent of the population is under 30, a demographic that poses significant challenges in a region where youth unemployment stands at 21 percent — and 25 percent in North Africa — higher than anywhere else in the world.
The situation has created fertile ground for extremist groups to prey on jobless youth disillusioned with the dearth of opportunities. In Saudi Arabia, King Salman has described religious extremism as the “biggest challenge facing the nation.”
Terrorism-related attacks killed 414 people in GCC countries between 2012 and 2016, including in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE.
Bahrain, which has seen the highest number of attacks in the GCC, with 140 cases of terrorism documented in the past five years, has adopted strict anti-terrorism laws and works closely with the US and UK to counter the threat.
The country was among 41 others that joined the Saudi-led alliance against terrorism in 2016 and foregrounds the work of local civil society organizations in promoting tolerance and inter-faith dialogue.
Countries are increasingly enlisting “soft power” to unpick radical ideologies. Kuwait, a hub for theater in the region, has made use of “the press, media and drama” to “give people correct information” and “stop the spread of extremist ideology,” the report says.
High digital penetration across the GCC provides a key entry point for extremist recruiters targeting young people in Gulf nations. “A large, young, online population makes GCC countries especially vulnerable to online radicalization,” the report states.
In Saudi Arabia, which has an estimated 23 million Internet users, the majority of terrorist attacks have been carried out by Saudi citizens, about 70 percent of whom were recruited online.
Social media is a favorite recruiting ground. In Qatar, the high number of Daesh sympathizers is evident from comments posted on Twitter and Facebook, where, according to a study cited by the report, 47 percent of social media posts referencing Daesh did so in favorable terms.
The report points to cooperation initiatives between Gulf nations and the US, including “a digital communications hub” established by the US and the UAE that works with civil society groups and community and religious leaders to “combat ISIS online propaganda.”
Source: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1267826/world
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