Preventing Violent Extremism with Resilience, Adaptive Peacebuilding, and Community-embedded Approaches

Theoretical and policy debates on the responses to address violent extremism (VE) have evolved from countering violent extremism concepts, characterized by coercion and over-securitization, to a broader understanding that incorporates prevention and risk reduction on multiple levels. While the preventing violent extremism agenda emphasizes non-coercive methods, such as education, empowerment, and participation, both approaches are also used interchangeably in preventing and countering violent extremism programs. In many regions, including Africa and the Middle East, hard-security approaches are the primary response to VE. This article discusses alternative holistic approaches that link resilience, peacebuilding, and community-based prevention in fragile contexts, enabling local communities to effectively address peace and security threats that will likely persist or reappear over time.

This Open Access paper was published in an academic journal, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.