The Grayzone: Terrorism, CVE & polarization from a societal perspective.

Abstract

Terrorism and violent extremism are high on the political agenda. The fear of terrorism is of big importance and influences peoples’ day to day decisions. Governments and NGOs designed campaigns to counter violent extremism (CVE) and tackle the problems surrounding terrorism. These campaigns are now up and running. But attacks are still happening, propaganda is still being shared, and the polarization as a result of these attacks is dividing societies. CVE does, at this moment, not provide a workable solution or policy to this problem. Last year I devoted my time to develop a more comprehensive approach to CVE with a campaign called ‘Dare to be Grey’. Inspired by the claim of Daesh that they destroyed the middle ground of society in their Dabiq magazine article ‘the extinction of the Grayzone’, I searched for new places of intervention in the dynamics surrounding terrorism and extremism. This thesis maps the field of terrorism, CVE and polarization to create a more comprehensive approach to violent extremism. By addressing terrorism from a societal perspective we can create new places of intervention and create campaigns more beneficial for society. This thesis provides new frameworks for CVE to address the dynamics of terrorism, instead of only addressing prospective extremists.