The First International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence
ICSR held the First International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence in London on 17-18 January 2008. The conference brought together close to 100 senior policymakers, scholars, journalists and practitioners
from five continents and more than 20 countries, making it the most
important global forum to deal with the issue of radicalization in many
years.
Keynote speeches were given by:
- Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, UK
- Senator Chuck Hagel, United States Senate
- Vice-President Francisco Santos Calderon, Vice-President of Colombia
- H.E. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
- Rt Hon Terry Davis, Secretary-General, Council of Europe
Panelists included:
- Frank Gardner, BBC
- H.E. Sadig Al Mahdi, former Prime Minister of Sudan
- Prof Olivier Roy, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
- H.E. Garret Fitzgerald, former Prime Minister of Ireland
- Shiraz Maher, former member of Hizb-ut Tahrir
- Peter Bergen, CNN
- Abdullah Anas, former mujahid
- Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6
- H.E. Andres Pastrana, former President of Colombia
- Dan Benjamin, Brookings Institution and former US National Security Council
And many more...
The conference also served as the launch event for the new International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), which is the first global centre for advancing knowledge and leadership to counter the growth of radicalisation and political violence. The objective is to combine scholarly insight and political foresight in addressing the challenge from radicalisation and political violence.
Both ICSR and the launch conference stand out as the first time Arab and Israeli academic institutions are openly collaborating to combat radicalisation and political violence.
The Centre is a unique new partnership which brings together King's College London, the University of Pennsylvania, the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention, Amman (Jordan), and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Israel). The Director of the Centre is Dr. Peter R. Neumann of King's College London.
ICSR will produce high-quality analysis and impact-driven research, tackling the most pressing problems in the areas of radicalisation and political violence. (For an overview of ICSR research projects, see www.icsr.info/about/projects).