The myth of 'soft power counterterrorism'

Abstract

In the decade following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, global focus has shifted towards analyzing how to combat terrorism. "Countering Violent Extremism" policies, or CVE, emerged as a means to combat the growing threat of extremist attacks against Western and Western-backed governments around the world. CVE promotes the use of deradicalization and integration techniques to develop trust in communities considered "at-risk" of becoming radicalized and executing extremist attacks. Problematically, CVE policies have been adopted and adored without having been scrutinized. I consider three historical cases of policies very similar to CVE, in France, Great Britain, and the United States, and analyze how CVE may distract from a concerning trend towards immigration, law enforcement, and military action instead of meaningful engagement.