Content Type: Policy Brief / Publishing Institution: United States Institute of Peace / Political Geography: Pakistan / Publication Year: within 10 Years / Topic: Islam

Author:: Selina Adam Khan
Publication Date:: 09-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: The December 2014 terrorist attack in Peshawar that killed 132 schoolchildren forced Pakistan to acknowledge the extent of its ongoing problem with radical Islamist militancy. Islamabad, however, has yet to implement a comprehensive deradicalization strategy. In January 2015, it took a formal step in this direction with its twenty-point National Action Plan in response to the Peshawar attack—a step, but only a first step. If deradicalization is to meet with any success in Pakistan, the national narrative itself needs to change.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Islam, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

Author:: Raheem ul Haque
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Pakistani leaders face serious domestic extremism challenges; more than 47,000 thousand lives have been lost in terrorism-related violence in Pakistan over the past decade. Effective counter-radicalization processes must take into account Pakistan's large young adult population (ages 15-29), which collectively accounts for at least 30 percent of the overall population. Youth radicalization in Pakistan can be understood as the product of an exclusively Islamic identity—meaning a majority of youth identify primarily through their religion over nationality— combined with a broader reactive movement comprised of militant, political and missionary organizations.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Demographics, Islam, and Youth Culture
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

Author:: Arif Rafiq
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Sectarian violence between Sunni Deobandi and Shia Muslims in Pakistan has escalated in recent years. Most of this violence is perpetrated by local networks, but the sectarian phenomenon also has important ties to regional security dynamics and transnational terrorist networks. Despite sporadic state crackdowns, Pakistan's leading Sunni Deobandi sectarian militant groups have been able to maintain a persistent presence thanks in part to reluctance among mainstream Pakistani military and political leaders to directly confront groups that are sometimes seen as serving utilitarian political interests. Despite this negligence, Sunni Deobandi militants have also established linkages with terrorist groups that target the Pakistani state, such as al-Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Rising conflict in the greater Middle East over the past five years has strengthened the sectarian political narrative in Pakistan and emboldened sectarian militant networks on both sides of the conflict.
Topic:: Political Violence, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:: Pakistan

Refine your search