Browsing by Author "Rud, Joshua"

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    Understanding the Complexities of Violent Extremism In Kosovo, Tunisia, and Kenya
    (2017-12) Besonen, Mark; Crouch, Taylor; Rud, Joshua; Safi, Amineh; Tatlow, Johanna
    In 2015, terrorist attacks resulted in a worldwide average of 2,361 deaths and 2,943 injuries monthly (U.S. Department of State, 2016). More than half of the attacks targeted private citizens and property. These statistics are not only disheartening, but reveal the need for greater study on the causes and attractions of violent extremism (VE), along with methods targeted toward the prevention of violent extremism. This report originated as a Capstone Project Proposal at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs submitted by the staff of the International Republican Institute (IRI), one of four nonpartisan democracy institutes that receive funding from the National Endowment for Democracy to support aspiring democracies worldwide (International Republican Institute, 2017). In accepting this research proposal, our team of five graduate students were commissioned by IRI to explore the web of interdependent factors that contribute to VE within three particular contexts of Kenya, Kosovo, and Tunisia. Additionally, the research proposal called for the recommendations of potential resources, programs, and tools that IRI could leverage for future programming designed to decrease societal and individual susceptibility to VE. Our approach to investigating violent extremism is encapsulated by Douglas Leonard, who states: Intolerance takes root and spreads in failed states where security is lacking, where balances of power are realigning and where fierce competition puts pressure on societies to create inflexible and impermeable alliances defined around the markers of human identity, whether ethnic, religious, linguistic or tribal.... Intolerance is a human tendency in any context of scarcity, whether religious or secular. (Leonard, 2015) As a means of systematically assessing susceptibility to VE across all three contexts (Kenya, Kosovo, and Tunisia) we developed an Assessment Tool that allows the user to identify vulnerable populations within a society. Although we are confident with the assessments made, we recognize that there are limitations to desk research. We believe that using our assessment tool in the location being analyzed alongside local experts will provide practitioners the best systematic means to uncover and assess a society’s susceptibility to VE at the national, local, and individual level.