International experts on the front line in the world of extremism — and some who have crossed the line — will take part in a two-day policy conference this week at the University of Pittsburgh.
The public conference, featuring speakers from the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Germany and the United States, will address the topic of “Countering Violent Extremism in the United States and the European Union.”
The issues to be tackled involve the threat of terrorist attacks, how to prevent citizens from engaging in terrorist behavior, what to do with citizens seeking to go abroad to participate in violent extremism, and how to minimize attacks.
“Obviously, anyone who has been following the news understands the timeliness of the conference,” said conference organizer Michael Kenney, associate professor of international affairs at Pitt. “What we’re excited about is the diversity of speakers that we’ve been able to bring in. It’s a diverse group of scholars, practitioners and community activists who understand the threat of violent extremism and the challenges we face in responding to it.”
Among those taking part in the seven panel discussions presented Thursday and Friday will be three young people whom Mr. Kenney described as “formers.”
“These are former extremists,” he said. “People who at one point in their lives were themselves directly involved in extremist groups. A couple of these folks will tell the story of their personal journey, the trajectory that they underwent, going from extremism to where they are now, working on countering extremism.
“This is somewhat unique, to have formers at a conference, whether they’re violent or nonviolent. I should stress that they were not bomb makers, these were not terrorists.
“They were former nonviolent extremists. They were essentially political activists that accepted the extremist narrative, which is very similar to the al-Qaida narrative, which is that they wanted to create a global caliphate.
“They wanted the implementation of Sharia law throughout the world. But they wanted to achieve that through political activism.
“ ... They’re going to tell us their story — how they became involved in extremism, what their experience was like, why they eventually decided to leave, how they left, and how they came to be involved in their current work, which is countering violent extremism.”
Though Pittsburgh may not be one of the world’s “hot spots” for terrorist activity, Mr. Kenney said, it’s a good place to start an international dialogue. “There are other communities that have greater problems with this sort of thing than Pittsburgh does, no doubt,” he said. “And this problem is not something that people need to be hysterical about.
“The number of Americans that have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria is relatively low, only about 150 or so people, including those who have been stopped. That’s a much lower number, per capita, than in Belgium, France or the U.K.
“But this is not an existential threat. It’s a policy problem that we want to increase awareness about, start thinking about. What are the best ways for local communities to be thinking about this? What are some best practices out there? What do we know about the problem? But it’s definitely not something that we want to create hysteria about.”
The panel discussions, presented by Pitt’s European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center within the University Center for International Studies, are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Mr. Kenney expects about 100 attendees at the Twentieth Century Club, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., in Oakland.
“We’re hoping to have an honest, robust dialogue with the community about these very important issues,” he said.
First Published: April 7, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
