Founded in 2015, the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) provides research, training, and strategic advice to government leaders, intelligence, defense, international organizations, police and civilian communities worldwide to prevent and deter the threat of violent extremism in the core areas such as capacity building and programmatic support, countering extremist narrative, alternative narrative, developing community resilience, managing prevention and intervention activities, and training.
With our growing team of diverse academic and professional backgrounds, ICSVE grew out of Dr. Anne Speckhard’s work on counterterrorism and counter-radicalization spanning more than two decades.
Given the prolific use of media by domestic violent extremist and global terrorist organizations to spur their national and global reach and propaganda, fighting militant jihadist, white supremacist and anti-government militia groups in the digital and information realm has become a major pillar of our research activities. We take pride in our field-based primary research and evidence-based educational video materials that are carefully crafted to counter the efforts of extremist and terrorist organizations to publicize their propaganda and garner support for violence. We at ICSVE strongly believe that the voices of defectors and victims of terrorist groups should be the overriding force in our collective counter-narrative efforts. First-person research with violent extremists, terrorists, and their supporters, and evidence-based counter-messaging is what makes our organization stand out from the rest.
Activities
ICSVE provides field research, training, and advice to government leaders, intelligence, police, defense, international organizations, and civilians worldwide—most recently in the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, and the Balkans—on the core areas of P/CVE and counter-terrorism. ICSVE has collected 272 in-depth interviews of ISIS, 16 of al Shabaab, hundreds more of militant jihadists and 52 of white supremacists and anti-government militia members and created from these interviews over 300 counter narrative videos.
ICSVE staff frequently consult to media and have appeared on CNN, BBC, NPR, Fox News, MSNBC, in Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, London Times, and many other publications. ICSVE staff conduct research worldwide and are available to train and lecture for international conferences and workshops as well as assist those working in communities susceptible to radicalization and violent extremism as well as those receiving returnees from terrorist groups.
ICSVE staff have trained, conducted research, consulted to, and lectured for UNODC, UN Women, NATO, OSCE, and foreign governments and embassies—and in the United States to the U.S. Senate & House, Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health & Human Services and FBI.
ICSVE works with partners and donors interested in countering violent extremism. We welcome scholars and leaders from academia to politics to creative pursuits in the fight against violent extremism. ICSVE is dedicated to pushing the limits of excellence and building a solid architecture of global counter-radicalization and counterterrorism research and cooperation.