This year, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on extremism, which monitors growing white supremacist propaganda efforts targeting U.S. college campuses, said it has seen a dramatic increase in recruitment efforts throughout the U.S using fliers, stickers and posters and that since 2016, and in the subsequent year, they have seen a steady increase in those efforts in states like California, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio and Utah leading the way of the highest number of incidents.
For the past 18 years since 9/11, the United States has largely been facing the threat of global terrorism carried out by a range of Islamist-affiliated groups, including U.S. persons who have carried out or sought to carry out attacks on U.S. soil. Like Islamists, other extremist actors carry similar real and/or perceived grievances and concerns. Ideology, charisma, sociopolitical, personal and economic factors are just some of the many reasons why individuals and groups of individuals move from being radicalized to mobilizing to executing an attack plan.
Dr. Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, Executive Director, North America for Quilliam International
"I know this issue all too well, for over a decade I worked in our U.S. Intelligence community as a counterterrorism officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and specifically the National Counterterrorism Center where I was a part of a team of analysts in the Radicalization and Messages Group where we worked on such issues."
Trying to find indicators, reasons, motivations and clues to piece together patterns that explain why people are motivated to violence was part of the mystery that I, along with some of the best and brightest minds of our intelligence agencies, sought to unravel. It wasn’t easy to say the least. The way that we are seeking to understand the rise of white homegrown violent extremists can be applied to how we sought to understand the rise of Islamist homegrown violent extremism. We must be honest now more than ever that the threat posed by these individuals also have their tentacles in global transnational networks as was the case in Christchurch, New Zealand.
All of this raises the question of how we should respond to the threat posed by terrorists both at home and abroad. What are the common threats that these groups pose and how does the U.S., as a nation, come up with appropriate measures to prevent, rehabilitate and reintegrate people who may be drawn to extremist groups?
The historical record shows that the U.S. has relied on strategies to prevent radicalization but has rarely taken stock of, let alone utilized, the unique skills of individuals who are or have been involved in extremist activity to de-radicalize others, opting to quickly prosecute such individuals instead. Furthermore, partisan politics represents a formidable obstacle to the formation of organized off-ramping programs, such as those seen in the UK.
In October last year, the Trump administration released their national strategy for counter-terrorism, demonstrating cautious optimism regarding its views on rehabilitation. In particular, the section titled “Counter Terrorist Radicalization and Recruitment,” lays out the administration’s list of priorities, but the following statements stood out the most to me: 1) “institutionalize a prevention architecture to thwart terrorism”; 2) “combat violent extremist ideologies”; 3) “increase civil society’s role in terrorism prevention”; 4) support intervention, reintegration, and counter recidivism”. The administration’s acknowledgement of the importance of prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration is a promising sign that the U.S. is at least taking steps to move in the right direction, but as a former government analyst now working outside of government, I see the need for more holistic approaches working with all of society.
Let’s be clear. At present, there does not exist a uniformed and comprehensive de-radicalization program, but there are organizations that have engaged on this issue. Organizations like Free Radicals , Take Charge and Masjid Muhammad work with providing opportunities for individuals in and out of extremism and aid in diverting individuals from violent actions. In the case of Take Charge, it follows a decades-long effort of re-entry for juveniles, offering a comprehensive diversion for individuals susceptible to the influence of drugs and gangs.
As the U.S. seeks to come up with the best approach for prevention and de-radicalization programs, we should learn from what efforts are working, primarily in urban communities in America—some of which have been engaging in close to 50 years of de-radicalization efforts in various forms. Quilliam, the world’s oldest counter extremism organization, composed of former extremists, which I work for, has developed multifaceted strategies on rehabilitation based on the insights we have gleaned from through the many years on this problem set. Our VICE news documentary published earlier this year, follows our de-radicalization work with Mohammed Hassan Khalid. Extrapolating from the knowledge and experience of our UK offices, we produced a unique and tailored approach toward Khalid’s journey out of extremism, while simultaneously considering what we have learned from other rehabilitation programs that have been effective in the U.S. For Khalid, as was the case for other Islamists and certainly for the emerging white supremacist threat, peer to peer networks, ideological re-programming, mental health support and a safe space to fully express one’s inner most insecurity and challenges have been key to aiding individual’s like Khalid make the pathway out of extremism.
Dr. Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, Executive Director, North America for Quilliam International
"Any long term and sustainable de-radicalization program in the U.S. must draw upon existing efforts and experiences from across various spectrums of society to develop a multidisciplinary approach which includes civil society as well as religious, governmental and laymen communities alike."
Dr. Muhammad Fraser-Rahim is the Executive Director, North America for Quilliam International, the world’s oldest counter extremist organization and an Assistant Professor at the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina.
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