The EU security strategy and combating radicalisation

Abstract

In terrorism studies, the term ‘radicalisation’ is widely used, but is still poorly defined. Radicalisation as a notion, had entered academic literature in the early 2000s, when the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, gave rise to the understanding of this new buzzword. Then the terrorist attacks on European soil in the mid-2000s, initiated a counter-radicalisation response. Hence, counter-radicalisation came to be a fundamental aspect of the preventative counter-terrorism strategies formulated by the European Union.

By means of a qualitative research method and a document-based research approach, this dissertation will analyse the measures taken by the European Union to counter radicalisation, based on an exhaustive analysis of European initiatives between 2001 and 2018.

The European Union Counter-Terrorism Strategy and European Union Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment to Terrorism are given prominence, as they introduced a global commitment to combat terrorism and address radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism, cooperatively.

In a reaction to prevent these threats, European states’ governments introduced national measures to prevent radicalisation and, where radicalisation has already happened, to de-radicalise individuals. A focus is made on the United Kingdom’s approach – the Prevent Strategy, one of the four pillars of the wider counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. However, the analysis argues that British efforts at countering radicalisation, have been rather counter-productive and flawed in implementation, with possibilities to alienate the British-Muslim community.