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The threat of violent extremism facing the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) region and beyond has signalled the need for broader and more holistic conceptualisations of the key notions underpinning the phenomenon. To date, governments, donors and practitioners have approached Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) as an isolated exercise, largely removed from longer-term human security and development interventions. As the scholarship has evolved, however, it is increasingly clear that P/CVE must be understood through the lens, and as a pillar, of human security.To address this deficit, this research investigates the relationship between human security programming in Jordan and P/CVE efforts, and the extent to which this relationship is reinforcing and symbiotic, or disobliging and encumbering. We focus on the four pillars of human security deemed more relevant to P/CVE efforts: economic security, political security, personal security and communal security. The role, relevance and engagement of youth in each of these pillars, features in a cross-cutting manner.From this analysis, a Theory of Change (ToC) is presented. This ToC bridges current programming challenges and mid-term goals, in a way that may facilitate a better integration of P/CVE efforts into human security programming. We identify three thematic and four actor-based challenges to achieving this integrated approach. First, donor attention towards Syrian refugees has fuelled a perception of relative deprivation, which has eroded social cohesion. Second, the short-term and selective nature of donor-funded programming renders youth as an increasingly vulnerable demographic. Third, sluggish progress in women's empowerment has restricted their ability to counter radicalisation and extremism within their communities. Actor-based challenges include: beneficiaries' increasing reluctance to participate in programming without financial remuneration, de-contextualised programme design, and the inherent weakness of the civil society sector vis-à-vis the bureaucratic requirements imposed upon them.

The threat of violent extremism facing the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) region and beyond has signalled the need for broader and more holistic conceptualisations of the key notions underpinning the phenomenon. To date, governments, donors and practitioners have approached Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) as an isolated exercise, largely removed from longer-term human security and development interventions. As the scholarship has evolved, however, it is increasingly clear that P/CVE must be understood through the lens, and as a pillar, of human security.To address this deficit, this research investigates the relationship between human security programming in Jordan and P/CVE efforts, and the extent to which this relationship is reinforcing and symbiotic, or disobliging and encumbering. We focus on the four pillars of human security deemed more relevant to P/CVE efforts: economic security, political security, personal security and communal security. The role, relevance and engagement of youth in each of these pillars, features in a cross-cutting manner.From this analysis, a Theory of Change (ToC) is presented. This ToC bridges current programming challenges and mid-term goals, in a way that may facilitate a better integration of P/CVE efforts into human security programming. We identify three thematic and four actor-based challenges to achieving this integrated approach. First, donor attention towards Syrian refugees has fuelled a perception of relative deprivation, which has eroded social cohesion. Second, the short-term and selective nature of donor-funded programming renders youth as an increasingly vulnerable demographic. Third, sluggish progress in women's empowerment has restricted their ability to counter radicalisation and extremism within their communities. Actor-based challenges include: beneficiaries' increasing reluctance to participate in programming without financial remuneration, de-contextualised programme design, and the inherent weakness of the civil society sector vis-à-vis ...

The involvement of former extremists or family members of terrorists in measures aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) has recently gained more attention in research and practice. However, little is yet known about the motivations of these individuals as to why they chose to engage in P/CVE activities. Understanding what drives such engagement could provide a better appreciation of the potential impact of such deployment, whether beneficial or detrimental to both the individuals involved and their respective P/CVE-target audience – and contribute to the evolving discourse regarding the effectiveness and potential risks of such P/CVE interventions. This article draws on eight biographical-narrative interviews with four former right-wing extremists and with four relatives of jihadist foreign fighters, all of whom are currently engaged in P/CVE work. Through qualitative reconstructive methods, a combination of narrative and thematic approaches was used to reconstruct the action-relevant orientations for the interviewees' activism. Results indicate that family members are motivated by coping mechanisms for traumatic stress, by social relatedness derived from a 'positive marginality', and in response to situational demands. Motivations of former extremists include finding their way back into society, having their new identity mirrored back to them, or maintaining a sense of self-continuity through 'role residuals'. The results show that, in the case of family members, motivation is affected by exposure to traumatic stress. They also suggest that a locus of control among former extremists can signify different stages of deradicalisation in some forms of exit pathways and thus help to identify different risks depending on a former's P/CVE role. Acknowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 725349. This publication reflects only the views of the author(s); the European Commission and Research Executive Agency are not responsible for any information it contains. Since the second author of this article (Daniel Koehler) is also the Editor in Chief of the Journal for Deradicalization, a guest editor (Prof. Hilary Pilkington, Manchester University) facilitated the peer review process to prevent any conflict of interests and protect the integrity of the peer review process.

A reference digital elevation model (RDEM) produced by the Hellenic Military Geographical Service (HMGS) (Athens, Greece) is used to assess the vertical accuracy of the ASTER (advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer) global digital elevation model (GDEM) for a small volcanic island, Nisiros, in south-east Greece. The overall vertical accuracy of theGDEMis within the root mean square error (RMSE) specified by the ASTER DEM Working Group. Despite this, ASTER GDEM is a product with variable vertical accuracy depending on the number of scenes (stack number (SN)) per grid point used for the computation of elevation. The exposure (SN) of a physiographic region to ASTER sensors seems to be elevation- and slope-dependent in this particular study area. The difference between the GDEM and RDEM may partly be explained by the fact that GDEM is a digital surface model and thus the variable landcover heights introduce additional error in accuracy estimates. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Die Autoren - ein Wissenschaftlerteam des Moskauer Instituts IMEPI- fassen die bisherigen Ergebnisse des Transformationsprozesses in Osteuropa zusammen und vergleichen und analysieren die unterschiedliche Entwicklung in den ostmitteleuropäischen Reformländern und in Rußland. Das Mißlingen der russischen Reformpolitik führen sie in erster Linie auf die von der Exekutive gewählte ungeeignete Strategie und erst in zweiter Linie auf die -im Vergleich zu den OME-Staaten - ungünstigen Ausgangsbedingungen zurück. (BIOst-Mrk)