The Madrid and London bombings highlighted the need to go beyond the purely security based strategies (and discourse) to tackle terrorism that drove the so called War on Terror. As a result, Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), as exemplified by the UK “Prevent” programme, gained traction as the main theoretical and policy tool to tackle the drivers which lead people to engage in politically or ideologically motivated violence. Although the introduction of this “soft pillar” in counterterrorist strategies was both necessary and welcome, the lack of an internationally accepted definition of violent extremism has led to limited success, a highly politicized debate and bitter criticism from academics, policy makers and communities. Violent extremists often support radical beliefs but it would be difficult to sustain that all radicals are violent or that all extremists will ultimately use violence to defend or impose their ideas. This apparently academic debate has deep policy implications that affect the daily lives of citizens across the globe.

The course aims at analyzing these and other issues such as the rights vs. security debate, the rise of right wing extremist groups, the links between the media and violent extremism and the different national and international approaches to countering violent extremism.

More broadly, the course aims at providing students with a critical ability to analyze and understand the phenomena of violent extremism, radicalization and terrorism and to assess the policy implications of a constantly evolving threat. Students will be expected to have read all the material related to each session in advance, and to have prepared for case study analyses by reading the text(s) provided, before the session. They will be required to demonstrate this in classes, which will be participatory. Students will be expected to make meaningful contributions to discussions throughout the sessions, both individually and in groups, and in particular, to demonstrate that they have applied what they have been taught to their analysis of case studies and written assignments.

During the course there will be two written assignment designed to assess students´ understanding of concepts and issues discussed and their ability to analyse them. Students will be graded for: -Contributions to class discussion and in-class behaviour – 10%. -Group work (two presentations) – 40%. -Written assignment (one)– 50%