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Tahir Abbas in various media on radicalisation

Tahir Abbas, Associate Professor in Terrorism and Political Violence at ISGA, explained how polarisation and social exclusion were at the root of radicalisation around the world. Papers ‘The News’ and ‘Dawn’ wrote articles about it.

Abbas spoke online at Afkar-i-Taza ThinkFest Conversations with analyst Azeema Cheema about radicalisation. Abbas: ‘Ideology is certainly a pull factor but the push factors are inequalities, and once they are addressed, radicalisation will come down.’ For example, Abbas noted that a magazine of the so-called Islamic State was published in 26 languages. He said of it, 'Most of the topics covered there are about how Muslim youth in the West feel disempowered - that is the central issue.’ He also explained that despite mounting evidence of factors other than ideology being more important, the state and the political elite were in denial.

Far-right radicalisation

Abbas and Azeema Cheema also talked about the situation in Europe. According to Abbas, it is not Islamic radicalisation that is the main threat to the continent, but radicalisation by the extreme right. For example, last month in the United Kingdom alone, two plots by far-right radicals were thwarted. This shows that there is a increasing threat in Europe. Abbas concluded that this must be tackled.

Read the articles in which Abbas is quoted here (Dawn) and here (The News)

Tahir Abbas FRSA is an Associate Professor in Terrorism and Political Violence at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University in The Hague. He holds a PhD in Ethnic Relations from the University of Warwick (2001). His current research interests are the intersections of Islamophobia and radicalisation, gender and violence, inter-generational transmission of Islamism, and ethnic relations. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of 14 books (18 vols) and over 70 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and encyclopaedic entries.

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