Forging Our Narrative: Toward a New Vision of Counter-Terrorism

Abstract

This thesis explores the emerging field of “Counter-Narrative” work, which aims toundermine the ideological power of violent extremist groups and promote analternative worldview among those vulnerable to radicalization. We find ourselves ina profoundly defining moment in the fight against terrorism. In an age whenextremist groups like the Islamic State can communicate sophisticated narrativesinstantaneously to a global network, and political dynamics threaten to deependivides between the Muslim and Western worlds, developing a winning strategy forthe ideological war against Jihadi-Salafist extremism is a pressing concern for policymakers,scholars, private sector leaders, and civil society.I first seek to define and evaluate the current state of counter-narrative efforts againstIslamist extremism. I argue that this field suffers from a lack of coordination andlong-term planning, and too often alienates the populations to whom it tries toconnect. By delving deep into a case study of the United Kingdom, I illustrate thecore challenges facing a government and civil sector that has long sought to defeatextremism within its borders. This example offers valuable lessons for the UnitedStates, where counter-extremism policy and rhetoric has recently taken a domesticfocus and American Muslims face a political climate that increasingly links themwith terrorism and conflict.Ultimately, this thesis strives to construct a set of core principles to guide the futuredevelopment of counter-narrative strategy and programming. As the internationalcommunity stands at the precipice of a new political era, I make the case that themost significant task in the fight against terrorism is to develop and promote analternative narrative even more inspiring than that of extremism, at the same timeworking to build societies that value and empower their Muslim communities.