Communication and Conflict Transformation Through Local, Regional, and Global Engagement by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic

Chapter 12

Preventing Violent Extremism through Government and Community Partnerships1

Susan Szmania

Communication scholarship has a strong tradition of practical, use-oriented engagement on a variety of applied topics, such as doctor-patient communication in health-care, interaction in courtroom settings, the dynamics of traditional and online workplace environments, and negotiation techniques employed by law enforcement officials.2 This body of research has contributed not only to a better understanding of the dynamics of human interaction, but it has also addressed how to overcome communication challenges, and how to engage productively when individuals are in conflict with one another. As showcased by the contributions to this volume, the conflict transformation approach has enhanced conflict and communication research in many contexts. This chapter applies the conflict transformation framework to an emerging area for communication research, that of countering violent extremism.

Scholarly attention to radicalization, violent extremism, and terrorism has intensified dramatically over the last decade as a response to high-profile terrorist attacks. While the bulk of this research literature has come from fields such as history, political science, and international relations, communication scholars have only just begun to look at how communication strategies can be used to disrupt and deter violent extremism.3 This chapter introduces countering violent extremism as a communication phenomenon and illustrates several ways that a conflict transformation approach might deepen U.S. policy and practice aimed at terrorism prevention. Noted conflict scholar John Paul Lederach’s groundbreaking work on conflict transformation is used as a foundation to explore policies and programs to combat violent extremism through examples involving design thinking, dialogue interventions, and promoting constructive change processes. In the conclusion, next steps for employing a conflict transformation framework to prevent violent extremism through community and government partnerships are outlined.

THE THREAT OF VIOLENT EXTREMISM

There can be no doubt that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 changed the way Americans viewed their risk and vulnerability to terrorism. Arguably, before 9/11, many Americans believed terrorist activities were something that occurred beyond their national borders. In the difficult months and years following the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, the U.S. government took an aggressive approach to terrorists and to terrorism. At first, the official government posture focused on capturing and killing those responsible for the crimes committed on 9/11. Most of these efforts focused on locations outside of the United States, largely through diplomatic, military, and intelligence lines of effort.

As this effort evolved, the political leaders utilized various phrases to capture the breadth of this effort. Perhaps the most infamous term was the “Global War on Terror” or GWOT.4 But, due to shifting government priorities and threat analyses, in 2005 a new acronym was introduced, SAVE, or Struggle Against Violent Extremism. This is one of the first official uses of the term “violent extremism” to be linked to primarily al Qaeda activities involving the recruitment and radicalization of individuals for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks.

In subsequent years, the phrase “countering violent extremism” or simply “CVE” entered into national security conversations as a way to group the wider range of counterterrorism operations conducted by various branches of the U.

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