The Challenge of Extremism

The "challenge of extremism" appears in the daily news in multiple forms. From brutal attacks by islamist 'Home Grown Terrorists' to growing and violent right-wing extremist networks and heterogeneous left-wing extremist structures rejecting the state system: extremism poses a significant threat to the security of liberal democracies and therefore especially to Germany, its neighbours and closest partners.

Cross-border radicalisation, extremism and terrorism are closely linked to the increasing polarisation of our societies, so this problem can only be addressed and overcome successfully with a collective approach. Thus, prevention and deradicalisation embody tasks for the society as a whole, especially in relation to polarisation. Due to the complexity of the phenomenon of extremism, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to countering this threat in advance.