Understanding Extremism 13 A laundry list of grievances, no matter how egregious, will not by itself inspire violent extremism. Terrorists also need to be convinced that they can eliminate or ameliorate the grievance of their group, even if they themselves die in the process. An empowerment narrative tells the aggrieved that they are not powerless, that they can effect meaningful change through violence. VEOs build their empowerment narrative on success. The more attacks they carry out, the stronger the case they can make that violence works. For this reason, the anarchists of the nineteenth century (arguably the first modern terrorists) described terrorist attacks as “propaganda of the deed.”14 The 9/11 attacks had two audiences. To the American people, al-Qaeda proclaimed: “We can hit and hurt you at any time.” To its supporters, the group declared: “We are not powerless.” A campaign of violence enhances the empowerment narrative and attracts followers who share the grievance narrative. Success thus breeds success. VEO ideology based upon religion provides a particularly strong empowerment narrative. All of the world’s great religions have been a force for good, and none is inherently violent. Each has, however, been perverted by some of its followers at one time or another to justify vio- lence. Employed in this manner, religion empowers extremists by provid- ing a divine mandate for their cause. People who believe that they are doing God’s will can justify any action, no matter how horrific. They are often willing to die, especially if they believe that they will be rewarded with eternal life in paradise for their faithfulness. RADICALIZATION Radicalization is the process by which individuals come to accept the grievance and empowerment narratives. Academics, analysts, and policy makers are struggling to understand the process by which people become radicalized. Whatever differences exist among those who study the phe- nomenon, experts all agree on a few key points. First, radicalization is a far more complex process than previously imagined. Second, there are dif- ferent paths to radicalization. Third, the factors that impel some people to join an extremist group vary with time and place. As one expert astutely concluded, “Radicalization tends to combine social, political and cultural circumstances with individual processes and interpersonal relations. This is a complex web, and it shows that there is no single route to radicaliza- tion, at least on the individual level.”15 This complexity notwithstanding, some experts have tried to develop behavioral models to explain the radicalization process. One, developed by Mitchell Silber and Arvin Bhatt for the New York Police Department, claims to explain how Americans become jihadis. They define four distinct phases of radicalization: preradicalization, identification, indoctrination, and jihadization. They insist that observable behaviors or “signatures”
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