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Home, Land, Security: Deradicalization and the Journey Back From Extremism
A groundbreaking look inside the controversial field of deradicalization, told through the stories of former militants and the people working to bring them back into society, from National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Carla Power
What are the roots of radicalism? Journalist Carla Power came to this question well before the January 6, 2021 attack in Washington, D.C. turned America's attention to the problem of domestic radicalization. Her entry point was a different wave of radical panic—the way populists and pundits encouraged us to see the young people who joined ISIS or other terrorist organizations as simple monsters. Power wanted to chip away at the stereotypes by focusing not on what these young people had done but why: What drew them into militancy? What visions of the world—of home, of land, of security for themselves and the people they loved—shifted their thinking toward radical beliefs? And what visions of the world might bring them back to society?
Power begins her journey by talking to the mothers of young men who’d joined ISIS in the UK and Canada; from there, she travels around the world in search of societies that are finding new and innovative ways to rehabilitate former extremists. We meet an American judge who has staked his career on finding new ways to handle terrorist suspects, a Pakistani woman running a game-changing school for former child soldiers, a radicalized Somali-American who learns through literature to see beyond his Manichean beliefs, and a former neo-Nazi who now helps disarm white supremacists. Along the way, Power gleans lessons that get her closer to answering the true question at the heart of her pursuit: Can we find a way to live together?
An eye-opening, page-turning investigation, Home, Land, Security speaks to the rise of division and radicalization in all forms, both at home and abroad. In this richly reported and deeply human account, Power offers new ways to overcome the rising tides of extremism, one human at a time.
What are the roots of radicalism? Journalist Carla Power came to this question well before the January 6, 2021 attack in Washington, D.C. turned America's attention to the problem of domestic radicalization. Her entry point was a different wave of radical panic—the way populists and pundits encouraged us to see the young people who joined ISIS or other terrorist organizations as simple monsters. Power wanted to chip away at the stereotypes by focusing not on what these young people had done but why: What drew them into militancy? What visions of the world—of home, of land, of security for themselves and the people they loved—shifted their thinking toward radical beliefs? And what visions of the world might bring them back to society?
Power begins her journey by talking to the mothers of young men who’d joined ISIS in the UK and Canada; from there, she travels around the world in search of societies that are finding new and innovative ways to rehabilitate former extremists. We meet an American judge who has staked his career on finding new ways to handle terrorist suspects, a Pakistani woman running a game-changing school for former child soldiers, a radicalized Somali-American who learns through literature to see beyond his Manichean beliefs, and a former neo-Nazi who now helps disarm white supremacists. Along the way, Power gleans lessons that get her closer to answering the true question at the heart of her pursuit: Can we find a way to live together?
An eye-opening, page-turning investigation, Home, Land, Security speaks to the rise of division and radicalization in all forms, both at home and abroad. In this richly reported and deeply human account, Power offers new ways to overcome the rising tides of extremism, one human at a time.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2021
41 people are currently reading
1980 people want to read
About the author
Carla Power
6 books94 followersA finalist for the Pulitzer and National Book Awards, Carla Power began her career at Newsweek, where she was a foreign correspondent. Her writing has appeared in Time, Vogue, Glamour, The New York Times Magazine, and Foreign Policy. Her work has been recognized with an Overseas Press Club award, a Women in Media Award, and the National Women’s Political Caucus’s EMMA Award. She holds a graduate degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Oxford, as well as degrees from Yale and Columbia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
August 27, 2022
I’ve been wanting to read some books off the Pulitzer Prize general nonfiction list and this book was a finalist for 2022. I really enjoyed it. This is an area of study I’m very interested in. My political science academic interest are de-democratization and democratic backsliding, which I see as radicalization on a national scale. This book very clearly communicates its ideas while also going into some very interesting and complex stories of radicalization and deradicalization. It demonstrates just how complicated that process can be. I think the most important takeaway of this book for me was the idea that radicalization is a societal level problem but deradicalization almost always has to happen on the individual level. I would definitely recommend this book.
December 12, 2021
After her enlightening memoir If the Oceans Were Ink about her yearlong studies of the Qur’an alongside a renowned Muslim scholar, Carla Power’s next project sought to gain an understanding of why individuals are pulled towards extremism. In traveling around the world, her superb, investigative reporting in Home, Land, Security provides an opportunity for us to expand our perceptions about extremists and how we can deradicalize them.
With one eye-opening story after another, Power’s research offers us portraits of individuals with complex reasons and circumstances that impacted their allure with radicalism. For example, she learned an ISIS fighter named Rasheed allowed his gullibility and “magical thinking” to make him susceptible to the lies ISIS fed him of how he’d enjoy a better life, full of excitement and adventure, if he joined their cause.
Power recounts many other stories of heartache and struggle that demonstrate a range of explanations for why many young people become radicalized. Apart from the adventure Rasheed sought, many troubled youths are searching for identity, belonging, and purpose. Jihadi recruiters exploit these vulnerabilities, and only after joining do some recruits adopt violent religious ideologies, while others still resist them. Having grievances also plays a significant role in radicalization, often caused by trauma or victimization that may trigger emotions of revenge.
While examining the many reasons people join extremist groups, Power arrives at an alarming observation that resonates with truth and clarity: “Rasheed’s quest for a simpler world with easy answers about where to live, what to do, and how to pray sounded a lot like the hopes of Americans who voted for a president who promised to ‘make American great again.’” Power makes clear how militant groups often appeal to naïve and vulnerable people by promising them that supporting a radical cause will help them and their country achieve the purity and certainty they’re seeking.
Power further explains how confronting the appeal of militancy requires a dismantlement of “the Us and Them rhetoric.” Her reporting found that division of people into stereotypical groups can result in those who are marginalized feeling anger, depression, desperation, loneliness, and isolation, which may rupture into a need for them to fight back against the forces that created those feelings.
In dealing with those who join extremist groups, Western countries too often allow fear and lack of knowledge to dictate their decisions. These countries choose to utilize tools and methods that preach safety and protection at any means necessary because, Power explains, they declare the enemy as entirely monstrous and inhuman. She challenges our perceptions by offering us glimpses of deradicalization efforts that reveal progress, success, and hope for former extremists.
Power’s research discovered how rehabilitation programs worked to steer formers away from an extremist outlook by making them feel meaningful and invested within the community. Rehab may also require offering an alternative that makes sense, more so than the ideology that may have pushed someone towards extremism. However, making formers active community participants, as Powers cautions, requires long-term talking and listening to them through mentoring programs and education sessions that build lasting relationships.
Power addresses how after 9/11, America sadly allowed fear to dismiss creative long-term programs, and instead America focused almost exclusively on solutions reliant upon securitization. For sure, Power reminds us, deradicalization efforts must chip away at the “narrowing worldview, based on intolerance” that many extremists possess. The fact is that mentorship, education, and community investment have proven successful in helping formers reintegrate back into society, but the challenge, she also reminds us, is the time, patience, commitment, and resources required to make these programs effective—a challenge America has often been unwilling to invest in.
Power gives us perspective about how terrorists often act upon an excess of emotion in which they empathize with only the extremists in their group, while feeling nothing towards those they target. What is most revealing, as Power learned, is that extremists sometimes are driven by righteous causes of wanting to resist injustices and aid those who are suffering. Power explains how deradicalization programs attempt to redirect the energy and determination that fueled an individual’s extremism into actions that serve the community.
Power’s reporting guides us to reconsider the perception that America has nothing to do with producing radicalization, that America is always the innocent bystander, and that terror is a problem associated only with foreign people. In fact, the West attempts to proclaim innocence in stoking conditions rife for terrorists, yet Power addresses the danger of that denial. She says, “What was missing, I realized, was any acknowledgment of responsibility, any admission of a link between what these governments did abroad and the threats they faced at home.”
Home, Land, Security is a thought-provoking, exploratory work that offers insight about what causes radicalization, what can be done to prevent it, and what efforts can be made to rehabilitate those who have been radicalized. Power’s exceptional research challenges us to reflect upon how we view and approach dealing with terrorists. The heartrending stories she gives us demonstrate the challenges we face and the hopefulness that is possible, while also reminding us to remain cognizant of what causes radicalization.
With one eye-opening story after another, Power’s research offers us portraits of individuals with complex reasons and circumstances that impacted their allure with radicalism. For example, she learned an ISIS fighter named Rasheed allowed his gullibility and “magical thinking” to make him susceptible to the lies ISIS fed him of how he’d enjoy a better life, full of excitement and adventure, if he joined their cause.
Power recounts many other stories of heartache and struggle that demonstrate a range of explanations for why many young people become radicalized. Apart from the adventure Rasheed sought, many troubled youths are searching for identity, belonging, and purpose. Jihadi recruiters exploit these vulnerabilities, and only after joining do some recruits adopt violent religious ideologies, while others still resist them. Having grievances also plays a significant role in radicalization, often caused by trauma or victimization that may trigger emotions of revenge.
While examining the many reasons people join extremist groups, Power arrives at an alarming observation that resonates with truth and clarity: “Rasheed’s quest for a simpler world with easy answers about where to live, what to do, and how to pray sounded a lot like the hopes of Americans who voted for a president who promised to ‘make American great again.’” Power makes clear how militant groups often appeal to naïve and vulnerable people by promising them that supporting a radical cause will help them and their country achieve the purity and certainty they’re seeking.
Power further explains how confronting the appeal of militancy requires a dismantlement of “the Us and Them rhetoric.” Her reporting found that division of people into stereotypical groups can result in those who are marginalized feeling anger, depression, desperation, loneliness, and isolation, which may rupture into a need for them to fight back against the forces that created those feelings.
In dealing with those who join extremist groups, Western countries too often allow fear and lack of knowledge to dictate their decisions. These countries choose to utilize tools and methods that preach safety and protection at any means necessary because, Power explains, they declare the enemy as entirely monstrous and inhuman. She challenges our perceptions by offering us glimpses of deradicalization efforts that reveal progress, success, and hope for former extremists.
Power’s research discovered how rehabilitation programs worked to steer formers away from an extremist outlook by making them feel meaningful and invested within the community. Rehab may also require offering an alternative that makes sense, more so than the ideology that may have pushed someone towards extremism. However, making formers active community participants, as Powers cautions, requires long-term talking and listening to them through mentoring programs and education sessions that build lasting relationships.
Power addresses how after 9/11, America sadly allowed fear to dismiss creative long-term programs, and instead America focused almost exclusively on solutions reliant upon securitization. For sure, Power reminds us, deradicalization efforts must chip away at the “narrowing worldview, based on intolerance” that many extremists possess. The fact is that mentorship, education, and community investment have proven successful in helping formers reintegrate back into society, but the challenge, she also reminds us, is the time, patience, commitment, and resources required to make these programs effective—a challenge America has often been unwilling to invest in.
Power gives us perspective about how terrorists often act upon an excess of emotion in which they empathize with only the extremists in their group, while feeling nothing towards those they target. What is most revealing, as Power learned, is that extremists sometimes are driven by righteous causes of wanting to resist injustices and aid those who are suffering. Power explains how deradicalization programs attempt to redirect the energy and determination that fueled an individual’s extremism into actions that serve the community.
Power’s reporting guides us to reconsider the perception that America has nothing to do with producing radicalization, that America is always the innocent bystander, and that terror is a problem associated only with foreign people. In fact, the West attempts to proclaim innocence in stoking conditions rife for terrorists, yet Power addresses the danger of that denial. She says, “What was missing, I realized, was any acknowledgment of responsibility, any admission of a link between what these governments did abroad and the threats they faced at home.”
Home, Land, Security is a thought-provoking, exploratory work that offers insight about what causes radicalization, what can be done to prevent it, and what efforts can be made to rehabilitate those who have been radicalized. Power’s exceptional research challenges us to reflect upon how we view and approach dealing with terrorists. The heartrending stories she gives us demonstrate the challenges we face and the hopefulness that is possible, while also reminding us to remain cognizant of what causes radicalization.
March 24, 2022
If you are looking for a book that focuses on Islamic radicalization and deradicalization drawing from Islamic extremists from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Indonesia, this is worth your time.
If you are looking for a book that focuses on multiple types radicalization and deradicalization, this may not be worth your time.
I was interested in this book because the synopsis promised an "eye-opening, page-turning investigations... [of] the rise of division and radicalization in all forms, both at home and abroad," but I found that it focused almost entirely on Islamic extremism. I was expecting a balance of stories of Islamic extremism and deradicalization as well as White supremacist extremism and deradicalization, especially since the synopsis mentions the January 6, 2021 attempted coup.
If you are looking for a book that focuses on multiple types radicalization and deradicalization, this may not be worth your time.
I was interested in this book because the synopsis promised an "eye-opening, page-turning investigations... [of] the rise of division and radicalization in all forms, both at home and abroad," but I found that it focused almost entirely on Islamic extremism. I was expecting a balance of stories of Islamic extremism and deradicalization as well as White supremacist extremism and deradicalization, especially since the synopsis mentions the January 6, 2021 attempted coup.
October 19, 2021
Everyone should read this book.
October 5, 2021
Many Muslims find extremism so terrifying, alien and even embarrassing, as it taints the global reputation of Islam. We often avoid engaging with those who have radical views, distancing ourselves from those who tarnish the name of our faith. Yet, it seems, there are so many of them! The Taliban managed to take over an entire nation and topple a government that was supposed to have been fortified by Western powers, there is perpetual fighting and slaughter taking place in areas of the Middle East polarised by Sunni vs. Shiite animosity and other clashing views about Islam, and there are terrorists in the West who have have attacked innocent civilians on their own soil due to to their warped ideologies of religion. Getting more of an understanding about those warped ideologies, is what inspired me to order this book, and I was quite relieved to see that early on, Power acknowledges that these extremist sentiments are rarely inspired by religion, but rather, by other social, economic and psychological factors influencing individuals - many of whom are shockingly young, and were "recruited" to extremism from the screens of their smartphones. For some of them, abandoning their lives and flying to Syria to join ISIS sounded like a remedy to the ailments of their modern lives.
“The heady mix of rugged pioneer life, vigorous piety and erotic promise was perfectly pitched to capture the imagination of a metropolitan teen…building a new caliphate felt intrinsically energetic and optimistic,” writes Power. She speaks to numerous former “jihadists” from around the world (and also demystifies the term "jihad", which actually means "inner struggle", not "war"), analysing what motivated them to pack their bags, fly to Syria and pledge their allegiance to ISIS, what ultimately brought them back, be it by force or choice, and how governments and organisations are supporting the “deradicalization” of their citizens.
She also explores the tremendous role that Western countries play, in meddling in the Middle East and Asia, and creating an environment that inspires radicalism: “It’s fearsomely hard to comprehend the global fallout from our foreign wars. Or to see that the wars we fight may make us less safe, rather than more so. Or to see that the strongmen we subcontract to fight terrorism may ultimately stoke the conditions for it,” she writes.
My favourite interview was of Afifa, a 16-year-old Indonesian teen who managed to convince 26 members of her extended family to leave their homes and emigrate to the “Islamic State”. Reading about how she was lured into the appeal of joining the caliphate just through Tumblr (!?), convincing her family it would be a beneficial move, arranging to be smuggled into Syria, expecting some sort of heavenly utopia once arriving and then being hit with the reality and realising “Wow, this is not the real caliphate” a little too late…
“The heady mix of rugged pioneer life, vigorous piety and erotic promise was perfectly pitched to capture the imagination of a metropolitan teen…building a new caliphate felt intrinsically energetic and optimistic,” writes Power. She speaks to numerous former “jihadists” from around the world (and also demystifies the term "jihad", which actually means "inner struggle", not "war"), analysing what motivated them to pack their bags, fly to Syria and pledge their allegiance to ISIS, what ultimately brought them back, be it by force or choice, and how governments and organisations are supporting the “deradicalization” of their citizens.
She also explores the tremendous role that Western countries play, in meddling in the Middle East and Asia, and creating an environment that inspires radicalism: “It’s fearsomely hard to comprehend the global fallout from our foreign wars. Or to see that the wars we fight may make us less safe, rather than more so. Or to see that the strongmen we subcontract to fight terrorism may ultimately stoke the conditions for it,” she writes.
My favourite interview was of Afifa, a 16-year-old Indonesian teen who managed to convince 26 members of her extended family to leave their homes and emigrate to the “Islamic State”. Reading about how she was lured into the appeal of joining the caliphate just through Tumblr (!?), convincing her family it would be a beneficial move, arranging to be smuggled into Syria, expecting some sort of heavenly utopia once arriving and then being hit with the reality and realising “Wow, this is not the real caliphate” a little too late…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2022
As others have noted, it was well researched and thought out, but far too light on right wing extremism in American society. While she does offer some light critiques of US foreign policy and touches on the alt-right at home, she bases almost all of her book on Islamist extremism… Which isn’t bad, but it’s just not what was advertised or what I expected.
Solid overall.
Solid overall.
October 30, 2022
3.5 stars rounded up. This book is more anecdotal than I was hoping for and I'd wager 80+% of the book focused on Islamic extremism to the near exclusion of the many other more prominent forms of extremism in the United States.
"Framing terrorists as sub-state desperados with limited power and resources who resort to such indiscriminate and horrific violence allows powerful actors to avoid scrutiny. So if you happen to have political legitimacy, command a large and well-equipped military, and influence international affairs, you cannot be called a terrorist."
"Framing terrorists as sub-state desperados with limited power and resources who resort to such indiscriminate and horrific violence allows powerful actors to avoid scrutiny. So if you happen to have political legitimacy, command a large and well-equipped military, and influence international affairs, you cannot be called a terrorist."
May 21, 2024
I haven’t devoured a book like this one in so long. Power’s analysis is clear, fair, and striking. Her perspective is unique in its aim to give a voice to those that are so often ignored, especially by Americans.
This book is a testament to the threat of extremism across all beliefs and the psychological factors that go into breeding these ideologies in the minds of the vulnerable and susceptible. Her counter examination of solutions is also extremely well researched. Such a great read.
This book is a testament to the threat of extremism across all beliefs and the psychological factors that go into breeding these ideologies in the minds of the vulnerable and susceptible. Her counter examination of solutions is also extremely well researched. Such a great read.
January 27, 2022
My favorite nonfiction is that which reads like a good story, and this one definitely qualifies. On the infinitely important subject of various cultures' attempts to deradicalize the right, whether they be Islamist jihadists, neo-Nazis and/or white supremacists, the writer details efforts all over the world to deal with these folks as human beings rather than punishing, killing and imprisoning them so they are out of the way. All of which magnifies the problem in our author's view. And I'm inclined to agree. She travels to interview participants in all sorts of projects, and brings her own inner thoughts and doubts to the table as well. Very worthwhile.
December 26, 2021
Listened to the audiobook. This looked so interesting but it ended up being really long and boring. Big disappointment to me! The author threw herself into every chapter of the book, which I think definitely retracted from the message. Additionally, maybe I missed this from listening to the book but the author didn’t seem to include quantified metrics. Everything she shares is an anecdote or a group of anecdotes, leaving the reader to wonder how impactful the programs she talks about are. Lastly, I think it’s kind strange that the entire book is focused on Islamic extremism, but then she ends the book talking about the far right movement of Germany. It felt disconnected….I would not recommend this book.
July 17, 2022
dnf-just wasnt caring about subject
March 17, 2023
An interesting journalistic work on terrorism, radicalization, and deradicalization, the latter being the most overlooked of these three topics/processes. Power goes to Europe, the US, Pakistan, and Indonesia to see how individuals became radicalized and how their societies sought to de-radicalize them. Both, she argues, are intensely political and personal projects that reflect how individuals and governments think about security and identity. The stories she tells are quite powerful, especially in the first section where she tells the stories of European women whose teenaged children joined the Islamic State.
She comes to the conclusions that A. joining a terrorist group, especially as a very young person, is less about ideology than personal motives: the search for meaning and community, resentment at mistreatment by one's own society, the fact that teenagers just generally suck at risk assessment and decision-making. B. Deradicalization must create a social space for the people it seeks to deradicalize, a sense of meaning (not just economic security) that can replace the meaning they sought in joining an extremist group in the first place. This is obviously very hard, and Power shows how this process usually takes a long time and requires significant resources, as well as lots and lots of talking between the de-radicalizing and community members, gov't employees, family, and friends.
I thought this was a compelling argument and that Power is a sensitive, engaging writer. I did, however, disagree with parts of this book. Power tends toward empathy with the terrorists she profiles, often portraying them as lost souls or just dumb kids. That's fine, but she doesn't wrestle enough with the fact that these kids joined a group that was openly and wantonly brutal, that was massacring Yazidis at a genocidal level, beheading prisoners, pushing walls on the gay people, marrying off and raping preteen girls, enslaving people, and so on. Either they just convinced themselves that the brutality was all made up, or (more plausibly in my mind) they liked the brutality/extremism or just didn't see it as a problem. There's something really dark about leaving your home to join this utterly depraved and psychotically violent group that put its violence, misogyny, homophobia, and cult-like apocalypticism on display for the entire world (you could say basically the same of AQ). If you look at what ISIS did, or at 9/11, and aren't filled with revulsion, there is something wrong with you. Period. I think Power downplays the disturbing darkness of what her subjects actually did in an effort to render them more complex. They didn't just run away to join a New Age cult or something; they joined death cults, some of the darkest groups of modern world history. I can't help but think that they joined BECAUSE of the darkness and extremism, not in spite of it. Did they want to kill the kufr (infidels)? Marry a de facto sex slave? Witness beheadings? Enforce the strictest sharia law? Power doesn't really interrogate these questions.
This is where interviews can only get you so far: the terrorists themselves, their parents, friends, etc are all going to create narratives favorable to their past selves: oh, we thought the beheadings were just US propaganda, we were just mad at U.S. foreign policy (as if there aren't other ways to protest it), we felt marginalized by our societies (fair for many Muslims, but you respond by joining a genocidal cult? It doesn't add up), we didn't have meaning in our lives. What Power doesn't do enough of is seek out evidence of their motives and thinking at the time, which the historical actors themselves cannot spin.
Finally, I thought Power was way too skeptical of European countries' efforts to block ISIS members from returning to their home countries. I think it's absolutely justified to revoke the citizenship of someone who joins these groups or to detain them upon return until they are deemed safe. I don't feel remotely bad for ISIS members killed by US forces, the Iraqi gov't, the Kurds, or what-have-you; you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. Power does a good job showing how refugees became "securitized," or seen as a security issue, but the truth is some returnees have committed terrorists offenses (the 2015 Paris attacks, for example), so when you can isolate/identify individual ISIS members, states absolutely should approach them with great caution.
Despite these critiques, this was still a thoughtful and humane book that certainly complicated my understanding of the motivations of terrorists. The most important point is that they are often not literally monsters, and psychopaths, but complicated people with a variety of motives.
She comes to the conclusions that A. joining a terrorist group, especially as a very young person, is less about ideology than personal motives: the search for meaning and community, resentment at mistreatment by one's own society, the fact that teenagers just generally suck at risk assessment and decision-making. B. Deradicalization must create a social space for the people it seeks to deradicalize, a sense of meaning (not just economic security) that can replace the meaning they sought in joining an extremist group in the first place. This is obviously very hard, and Power shows how this process usually takes a long time and requires significant resources, as well as lots and lots of talking between the de-radicalizing and community members, gov't employees, family, and friends.
I thought this was a compelling argument and that Power is a sensitive, engaging writer. I did, however, disagree with parts of this book. Power tends toward empathy with the terrorists she profiles, often portraying them as lost souls or just dumb kids. That's fine, but she doesn't wrestle enough with the fact that these kids joined a group that was openly and wantonly brutal, that was massacring Yazidis at a genocidal level, beheading prisoners, pushing walls on the gay people, marrying off and raping preteen girls, enslaving people, and so on. Either they just convinced themselves that the brutality was all made up, or (more plausibly in my mind) they liked the brutality/extremism or just didn't see it as a problem. There's something really dark about leaving your home to join this utterly depraved and psychotically violent group that put its violence, misogyny, homophobia, and cult-like apocalypticism on display for the entire world (you could say basically the same of AQ). If you look at what ISIS did, or at 9/11, and aren't filled with revulsion, there is something wrong with you. Period. I think Power downplays the disturbing darkness of what her subjects actually did in an effort to render them more complex. They didn't just run away to join a New Age cult or something; they joined death cults, some of the darkest groups of modern world history. I can't help but think that they joined BECAUSE of the darkness and extremism, not in spite of it. Did they want to kill the kufr (infidels)? Marry a de facto sex slave? Witness beheadings? Enforce the strictest sharia law? Power doesn't really interrogate these questions.
This is where interviews can only get you so far: the terrorists themselves, their parents, friends, etc are all going to create narratives favorable to their past selves: oh, we thought the beheadings were just US propaganda, we were just mad at U.S. foreign policy (as if there aren't other ways to protest it), we felt marginalized by our societies (fair for many Muslims, but you respond by joining a genocidal cult? It doesn't add up), we didn't have meaning in our lives. What Power doesn't do enough of is seek out evidence of their motives and thinking at the time, which the historical actors themselves cannot spin.
Finally, I thought Power was way too skeptical of European countries' efforts to block ISIS members from returning to their home countries. I think it's absolutely justified to revoke the citizenship of someone who joins these groups or to detain them upon return until they are deemed safe. I don't feel remotely bad for ISIS members killed by US forces, the Iraqi gov't, the Kurds, or what-have-you; you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. Power does a good job showing how refugees became "securitized," or seen as a security issue, but the truth is some returnees have committed terrorists offenses (the 2015 Paris attacks, for example), so when you can isolate/identify individual ISIS members, states absolutely should approach them with great caution.
Despite these critiques, this was still a thoughtful and humane book that certainly complicated my understanding of the motivations of terrorists. The most important point is that they are often not literally monsters, and psychopaths, but complicated people with a variety of motives.
November 24, 2021
I read this book a few months ago and wanted to digest it before writing about how it affected me. The book on deradicalization is a deep introspective look on a personal, national (US) and international (western) level. The author has a unique perspective because she lives outside of her native US. She starts out by tying together the January 6 Insurrection and the recent history of radical Islam. She guides us, with curiosity, in her investigation and reporting of the world of radicals and deradicalization. It is a different world than I have lived in. She weaves her attention to people in this strange world of deradicalization with a journalist’s keen eye--collecting stories from all over the world. While that is interesting, what I found to be the most influential was her journaling about how these interviews are changing her. It is a book that looks outward and inward. And that is how it affected me. I contemplated my view of the world from my safe midwestern middle-class perspective. I like to think that I am now more willing to take a look at people who are radicalized (including extreme right wing Americans) with less of a knee-jerk dismissal of them as evil. I think that their actions are evil, but it comes from a vulnerable, wounded part of themselves that has been hijacked by people working a larger agenda. It is a pathological response to a system that feeds on fear. This is nothing new in the history of humans. The question is, what can I do with this? Well, I have noticed that I am listening to and understanding the people in my life who hold other political views than my own. I am making it a point to be kind to people when I interact--every little action I make can have a positive or negative impact on someone vulnerable and hurting. I am doing what the author wrote about: I am looking outward with the desire to understand and at the same time looking inward questioning my biases and prejudices.
May 7, 2023
The author displays an absolute master class in hypocrisy.
In this thought-provoking yet contentious book, the author aims to explore the world of extremism and the forces that drive individuals to adopt such ideologies. While the book presents a compelling premise, urging readers to look beyond the "us versus them" mentality and understand the individuals involved, it, unfortunately, falters in its execution.
Inconsistencies mark the author's approach to discussing extremism, as she seemingly employs the same "us versus them" and "Others" mentality when backhandley talking about white people, Trump, and his supporters. Despite emphasizing the importance of engaging with those holding opposing views, she appears to dismiss the one interview with someone she disagrees with rather quickly.
Throughout the book, the author is critical of Western policy and their dismissal of sympathetic deradicalization efforts, yet she does not thoroughly examine these issues by interviewing relevant stakeholders. Similarly, her coverage of the rise of Trump and the events of January 6th lacks the same level of inquiry that she dedicates to other subjects. The author even ventures to Germany to explore far-right extremism but, disappointingly, does not engage in meaningful dialogue with individuals from this group either.
Ultimately, the book falls short of providing the balanced and comprehensive analysis that such a complex and important topic demands. A one-sided perspective and a noticeable bias against certain groups mark the author's journey through the world of extremism. Despite its engaging premise and potential, the book fails to live up to the high standards required for a work of this importance.
In this thought-provoking yet contentious book, the author aims to explore the world of extremism and the forces that drive individuals to adopt such ideologies. While the book presents a compelling premise, urging readers to look beyond the "us versus them" mentality and understand the individuals involved, it, unfortunately, falters in its execution.
Inconsistencies mark the author's approach to discussing extremism, as she seemingly employs the same "us versus them" and "Others" mentality when backhandley talking about white people, Trump, and his supporters. Despite emphasizing the importance of engaging with those holding opposing views, she appears to dismiss the one interview with someone she disagrees with rather quickly.
Throughout the book, the author is critical of Western policy and their dismissal of sympathetic deradicalization efforts, yet she does not thoroughly examine these issues by interviewing relevant stakeholders. Similarly, her coverage of the rise of Trump and the events of January 6th lacks the same level of inquiry that she dedicates to other subjects. The author even ventures to Germany to explore far-right extremism but, disappointingly, does not engage in meaningful dialogue with individuals from this group either.
Ultimately, the book falls short of providing the balanced and comprehensive analysis that such a complex and important topic demands. A one-sided perspective and a noticeable bias against certain groups mark the author's journey through the world of extremism. Despite its engaging premise and potential, the book fails to live up to the high standards required for a work of this importance.
November 15, 2021
Power has made an effective argument that killing all the terrorists is probably not the likely best solution to undoing the indoctrination that has taken place with Islamic terrorists. Whether we have the resources or wherewithal to de-radicalize them, or their right-wing counterparts, remains in my mind open to scrutiny.
Her early argument that Islamic terrorists are, indeed, the counterpoint to Western military incursion sort of slides off to the side of what she would really like to argue - that Islamists and skinheads are merely opposite sides of the same coin. I shall assume that her numbers in the early part of the work are accurate in pointing out that domestic killers have outdone the jihadists in wreaking mayhem in America - but she never quite proves that the criminal justice system is inadequate to the task of holding the right wingers in check while the entirety of the body politic is still struggling with how to deal with Islamic terrorism writ large.
Once she wades into the correctives of deradicalization my head starts to hurt. Yes, mothers are a key element of holding families together and keeping sons (and some daughters) away from the clutches of the terrorist groomers. But she describes one judge as in turmoil at how to NOT implement a spiritual solution for impressionable youth. She has basically painted both Muslims and Christians with the same brush in that regard - probably the weakest part of her thesis.
Her early argument that Islamic terrorists are, indeed, the counterpoint to Western military incursion sort of slides off to the side of what she would really like to argue - that Islamists and skinheads are merely opposite sides of the same coin. I shall assume that her numbers in the early part of the work are accurate in pointing out that domestic killers have outdone the jihadists in wreaking mayhem in America - but she never quite proves that the criminal justice system is inadequate to the task of holding the right wingers in check while the entirety of the body politic is still struggling with how to deal with Islamic terrorism writ large.
Once she wades into the correctives of deradicalization my head starts to hurt. Yes, mothers are a key element of holding families together and keeping sons (and some daughters) away from the clutches of the terrorist groomers. But she describes one judge as in turmoil at how to NOT implement a spiritual solution for impressionable youth. She has basically painted both Muslims and Christians with the same brush in that regard - probably the weakest part of her thesis.
March 21, 2022
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This was a really interesting exploration into a topic I didn't know much about. I appreciated the different angles that the author explored, and the different regions covered. I also appreciated the author's insertion of her personal observations, beliefs, and reactions because it contributed to the theme of humanity and the notion that we are all flawed and come with biases and prejudices. One thing I would have liked to see is an interview of a mother from a middle-eastern background who had been personally affected by extremism. The three mothers covered in the book were (I believe) all white converts to Islam (or the white mother of a terrorism victim). While the author does bring up that interviewing only these women might limit the viewpoints we see, she doesn't actually present another viewpoint in the book. However, an interview like that might not have been possible for a variety of reasons, and the book was still very informative and thought-provoking regardless.
This was a really interesting exploration into a topic I didn't know much about. I appreciated the different angles that the author explored, and the different regions covered. I also appreciated the author's insertion of her personal observations, beliefs, and reactions because it contributed to the theme of humanity and the notion that we are all flawed and come with biases and prejudices. One thing I would have liked to see is an interview of a mother from a middle-eastern background who had been personally affected by extremism. The three mothers covered in the book were (I believe) all white converts to Islam (or the white mother of a terrorism victim). While the author does bring up that interviewing only these women might limit the viewpoints we see, she doesn't actually present another viewpoint in the book. However, an interview like that might not have been possible for a variety of reasons, and the book was still very informative and thought-provoking regardless.
July 31, 2022
I strongly recommend this book especially young generations. The author threw herself into world-widely various kinds of projects that support the “formers”- had committed themselves to terrorism and explored how the communities should or should not spare limited resource to the criminals in order to rehabilitate and re-include them into their communities. In my country Japan, a longstanding principal that the criminals should be stigmatized to be separated from other citizens for the total community’s sake has eventually been abandoned and some punitive laws have shifted to more recurrently educational ones. Thus, I was touched and impressed by reading this and learning how much other nations whose much more threats of terrorism have been controversial in terms of ways to dealing with them afterward have been struggling over decades. Moreover, the final chapter is particularly provoking because she put together readers over the world like me in the light of the pandemic.
August 14, 2023
Bewildered and alarmed by the rapid increase of domestic terrorism in recent years, I was hoping to learn about the root causes and, more importantly, the programs designed to counter radicalization. Furthermore, I wanted help counteracting my growing contempt for and aversion of those who’ve moved dramatically away from centrist/moderate perspectives - as well as shifts within myself towards categorizing those with differing beliefs into us/them categories. This book is an excellent resource on both accounts. I come away both more concerned over the depth of divisiveness throughout the world and hope that civility, inclusivity and kindness are making gains and reuniting people in the common cause of quality of life, freedom, and justice for all. Highly recommend this book for those willing to look beyond labels, beyond affiliations, beyond ethnicity and nationality to what we as members of the human race have in common.
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December 14, 2024Throughout this book, the author meets various violent extremists (mostly Islamic terrorists and far-right terrorists) and examines how they have been rehabilitated and the process of deradicalization.
Some interesting points she makes:
1. Literature on prevention of violent extremism suggests that holding radical beliefs doesn't necessarily lead to terrorism. People who hold extremist beliefs may not support violence, while others commit terrorist offenses with no knowledge of extremist ideology.
2. Push factors include: lack of socioeconomic opportunities, marginalization and discrimination; poor governance; violations of human rights and rule of law; prolonged and unresolved conflicts; radicalization in prisons
3. Pull factors include: individual backgrounds and motivations; collective grievances and victimization stemming from oppression, subjugation, or foreign intervention; distortion and misuse of beliefs, political ideologies, ethnic and cultural differences; leadership and social networks
4. Recruiters (whether speaking language of religious extremism or of white supremacy) encourage a narrow worldview based on intolerance, a "de-pluralization of political values and ideals".
5. The similarity of far-right and jihadist extremists: recruiters play on people's yearnings for belonging, meaning, and transcendence. Both paint a glorious imagined past (a strong nation of Aryans or a Muslim caliphate modeled on the Prophet's Medina). They have parallel visions of how to solve societal problems, which are based on zero-sum games and call for "absolute solutions".
The author is much more forgiving than I would ever be toward terrorists, but this is an interesting book to read. I especially like the connection she made between far-right and jihadist extremists and I think that section should be required reading for pro-Hamas university protestors.
Some interesting points she makes:
1. Literature on prevention of violent extremism suggests that holding radical beliefs doesn't necessarily lead to terrorism. People who hold extremist beliefs may not support violence, while others commit terrorist offenses with no knowledge of extremist ideology.
2. Push factors include: lack of socioeconomic opportunities, marginalization and discrimination; poor governance; violations of human rights and rule of law; prolonged and unresolved conflicts; radicalization in prisons
3. Pull factors include: individual backgrounds and motivations; collective grievances and victimization stemming from oppression, subjugation, or foreign intervention; distortion and misuse of beliefs, political ideologies, ethnic and cultural differences; leadership and social networks
4. Recruiters (whether speaking language of religious extremism or of white supremacy) encourage a narrow worldview based on intolerance, a "de-pluralization of political values and ideals".
5. The similarity of far-right and jihadist extremists: recruiters play on people's yearnings for belonging, meaning, and transcendence. Both paint a glorious imagined past (a strong nation of Aryans or a Muslim caliphate modeled on the Prophet's Medina). They have parallel visions of how to solve societal problems, which are based on zero-sum games and call for "absolute solutions".
The author is much more forgiving than I would ever be toward terrorists, but this is an interesting book to read. I especially like the connection she made between far-right and jihadist extremists and I think that section should be required reading for pro-Hamas university protestors.
July 21, 2022
This is a really good run through of efforts to deradicalize Islamic jihadist fighters that is let down largely by its billing as a more universal work. Power is clearly a gifted, empathetic, and intensely human writer (as in, she does not suffer from arbitrary detached centrism but admits her own biases, feelings, and views and how they inform her views), and I enjoyed reading this. I desperately wish there was more about the variety of Germany's deradicalization programs focusing on the right-wing, or any actual work on France's programs rather than a few asides that didn't illuminate their programs (if that's all she was going to mention them, I feel she shouldn't've brought them up without further elucidation). But people should read this book! Just go in knowing the topic is more limited than the cover implies.
July 26, 2022
Informative and very well researched though, as other reviewers have noted, falsely advertised. While I did appreciate the author's research, pacing and writing style, I specifically chose to read this book after Walter's "How Civil Wars Start" in an effort to get some sense of far-right radicalization. While one could certainly draw parallels between the Islamic jihadis/formers Power writes about, mentions of far-right American extremism seem like a bit of an afterthought.
It's good. Just 99.9% about Muslim extremism and 0.1% about American extremism.
That said - the chapter that cited the stats of how America's drone program has generated more terrorists than it has killed was a welcome critique of American foreign policy.
It's good. Just 99.9% about Muslim extremism and 0.1% about American extremism.
That said - the chapter that cited the stats of how America's drone program has generated more terrorists than it has killed was a welcome critique of American foreign policy.
November 13, 2022
A different view of dealing with extremists and terrorists than what we typically here. Also there are additional insights in how the U.S. and other major powers sow the seeds for terrorism and extremist movements. The book focuses on the issues and deradicalization programs and avoids discussing the political struggles that often keep such programs from being implemented or sustained. Even without that discussion, I could see how fragile such program can be. One publicized failure might be all that is needed.
September 20, 2021
I read but was disappointed with the lack of left wing groups in the book. She covered Trump derangement one sided only. I agree the retaliation in the prison system is not working rehabilitation is the better option. I would like to see all groups covered left and right wing extremists are very bloody indeed.
December 4, 2024
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March 2, 2023
An extraordinary look at radicalization, from nazism to ISIS to Trump right-wing extremism. I loved the guidance on reaching out to communities to bring people back from hatred, and include them in our society.
November 8, 2023
Fairly anecdotal, but I think the reasons for that are well laid out. There is not a specific formula that has proven to perfectly deradicalize. I appreciated the highlighting of both the pros and cons of each "method."
This read easily and was very informative.
This read easily and was very informative.
May 24, 2024
4.2
I really liked how this author humanizes of victims of extremism, especially through their families as well as the political climates that led them there.
It was really cool to learn about how different places have handled extremist and terrorist rehabilitation.
I really liked how this author humanizes of victims of extremism, especially through their families as well as the political climates that led them there.
It was really cool to learn about how different places have handled extremist and terrorist rehabilitation.
Want to read
September 30, 2021As seen in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
July 21, 2022
I appreciated the perspective of mothers/family. Enjoyed the first third and then got distracted in guts.
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