Resilience Building Studies » Radicalism and Violent Extremism

The rise of radical and violent extremist groups and the atrocities they have committed in many parts of the globe in general and OIC countries in particular coupled with the negative and sometimes devastating human, social and economic consequences of their acts has pushed the subject of radicalism and violent extremism to the very top of the agenda of the OIC countries and the international society alike. The OIC OIC has regularly recognized and expressed concern on the critical issue of terrorism as reflected in the adoption of OIC Convention on Combating Terrorism, Code of Conduct for Combating International Terrorism and numerous resolutions with the latest adoption of Resolution No. 41/45-POL on Countering Terrorism and Extremism in May 2018.

SESRIC has also been quick to respond. Following the meeting of the OIC institutions on “Combating Terrorism, Violent Extremism and Radicalization”, which was held at the OIC General Secretariat in August 2015, SESRIC has sprung to action and formed a research team to work on combating terrorism and violent extremism. SESRIC approach is this domain is based on the premises that; it has become crystal clear that hard security measure alone will not suffice to confront radicalism and violent extremism. The truth is that we cannot counter and defeat what we do not understand. This fact highlights the need for a thorough understanding of the issues revolving around radicalism and violent extremism. Such understanding is crucial if the efforts to defeat radicalism and violent extremism are to succeed.

Based on the above understanding, SESRIC conducts research focused on identifying the drivers and root causes of radicalism and violent extremism and providing policy recommendation in order to eliminate the drivers and root causes. SESRIC presents its research finding in this domain in reports submitted to different OIC fora and to regional and international conference.