U.S. Policy to Counter Violent Extremism is Incoherent

The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with Michael Leiter, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, about U.S. government efforts to counter violent extremism. Leiter says that instead of debating the name of the program, officials should focus on creating a single department charged with leading initiatives to counter violent extremism.   

The Cipher Brief: In February, reports emerged that Trump administration officials were considering changing the name of the U.S. government’s “Countering Violent Extremism” program to “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.” How does this program work and what could this change mean?