Communities Secretary Sajid Javid speaks at the Pride Of Britain Awards launch in Speakers House, Houses of Parliament, London, October 2016. Stefan Rousseau/Press Association. All rights reserved.For years successive UK governments under the ‘PREVENT’ programme have tried to tackle ‘extremism’ or ‘radicalisation’ – that is to say, stop individuals, mainly youngsters, supporting or becoming jihadists. The latest tactic, promoted by UK communities secretary, Sajid Javid is to get those holding any public office to swear an oath of allegiance to British values. Far from promoting ‘integration’ this would be more likely to provoke hostility and resentment. It certainly will not help discourage anyone from embracing violent Islamic ideology.
Prevent has manifestly become counter-productive. Two recent books help to explain why, very welcome contributions to what is still a much-needed debate. One is Radicalized, New Jihadists and the Threat to the West, by Peter Neumann (published by IB Tauris), an extremely useful guide by the Professor of Security Studies at King’s College, London and director there of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) providing the context and background of the latest wave of terrorist groups.
Neumann traces the different roots and strands of modern terrorism, from the late nineteenth century anarchists, to anti-colonialists, the New Left, then to al-Qaida, and finally to Islamic State. While al-Qaida and IS share the ultimate goal of a caliphate, their strategies were very different, says Neumann. Al-Qaida’s strategy was first to attack the ‘far’ enemies – the US and its western allies – because they were crucial in propping up secular dictatorships in the Arab world. For IS leaders, it was the other way around: ‘the process of state building had to come first, not at the end.’
