Violent extremist ideologies can arise within any religious or cultural identity group. In a wide variety of contexts, we have seen that responses to extremism which rely primarily on military force often backfire and add fuel to the threat. We therefore focus on non-military approaches that reduce community vulnerability to violent extremism and strengthen resilience against recruitment. These are proven tactics for slowing the spread of violent extremism that carry little risk of causing new harm.

We work with multilateral institutions and governments to develop strategies that support whole societies to prevent the spread of violent extremist movements—by engaging religious and traditional leaders, civil society networks, women, youth, and more. Because violent conflict creates fertile ground for extremist organizations to grow, we also incorporate prevention throughout our programs at the community level.