Countering extremist ideologies: What are the synergies between the EU’s internal and external action?

Abstract

Countering the propaganda of terrorist groups has gradually become a central focus of efforts to prevent terrorism. The aim is ultimately to prevent the dissemination of violent ideas that are likely to encourage a process of radicalisation, which, in turn, is conducive to terrorist action. This objective has attracted more attention given changes in terrorist modus operandi, marked in particular by the use of modern online communication tools to incite/glorify terrorist acts, to provide training for terrorist purposes or to recruit candidates around the world. The EU and its Member States are working on several fronts to tackle the different facets of the ideological allure of extremist groups. This article discusses the fight against extremist ideologies as a new major focus of the EU’s terrorism prevention policy. The aim will be to shed the light on this evolving priority while identifying possible synergies between internal and external efforts to counter extremist propaganda.