‘Violent Extremism and Remedies’: Dealing with terrorism in Europe

Amr Abdel-Moneim

Violent extremism in Europe remains the focus of attention of most Western circles and international research centers due to the spillover of its effects on the Middle East and countries in the Arab world.

In his book “Europe: Violent Extremism and Remedies”, researcher Jassim Mohamad, director of the European Center for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies, completes a study on terrorism in Europe. The book addresses extremist groups in Europe by size and ideological formation, looking at the activities of extremist groups and their most prominent leaders.

The book also examines the attitudes of European countries and the preventive measures they are taking against the threats coming from extremist groups regionally and internationally. It also deals in detail with the dilemma of foreign fighters and the attitudes of Europe regarding their return, with the author describing Europe’s stances of legal and moral abandonment, as well as the duality of its policies to combat terrorism and extremism.

The book recommends the necessity of recovering foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq in order to avoid recycling ISIS elements into other extremist organizations and pushing their families and children towards delinquency and extremism.

The book, at almost 600 pages, was not satisfied with just presenting a map and the incubators of extremism within Europe. Rather, it reviews the policies of international intelligence services in combating extremism, with a critical review of those policies and their success or failure.

The importance of the book lies in its approach to dealing with extremism and terrorism from an inside European view, relying on reliable and credible international sources.