EWI's Countering Violent Extremism initiative has been working since January 2007 to combat extremism and radicalization around the world. The initiative works to raise awareness among policymakers and opinion leaders about the root causes of extremism and to develop strategies to address them. The subject, especially important given high levels of extremism in hotspots such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, is a central theme of the annual Worldwide Security Conference and a number of our Track 2 discussions. The initiative works to:

• Deepen understanding of extremism and its origins through publications and dialogue;
• Identify measurable actions to combat extremism;
• Encourage cooperation between the efforts of governments, businesses, civil society and faith communities;
• Inventory and evaluate existing approaches in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and use this evaluation to help policy makers identify allies for their efforts to counter violent extremism.

Our efforts in this area are based in large part on the Worldwide Action Platform, a summary roadmap to help create a global framework to counter violent extremism.