Bullets to Ballots

Reviews / Votes

This edited collection brings together leading academic and practitioner experts on the transformation of armed and violent movements to peaceful actors across ideological milieus. Collective de-radicalisation is unfortunately still something which we know very little about. This in-depth edited volume is a milestone in the field and is highly recommend to anyone interested in the dynamics of violent conflict transformation, demobilisation and armed groups' processes of change over time. -- Dr. Daniel Koehler, Director, German Institute on Radicalization and De-Radicalization Studies (GIRDS) and the author of Understanding Deradicalization: Methods, Tools and Programme for Countering Violent Extremism In a world dominated by intense conflicts, emphasising the contrary deradicalisation of social movements might look "academic", far-fetched or even wishful thinking. Not so according to the fourteen authors and their analysis of 20 cases from four continents. The authors' first-hand experience, coupled with Ashour's comparative perspective, offers both a data treasure and an important contribution to Social Movement Theory. -- Professor Bahgat Korany, FRSC, Department of Political Science, American University in Cairo De-radicalisation efforts targeting extremist and terrorist individuals have by and large shown disappointing results.
By looking at armed movements at the meso-(organisational and institutional) and macro-(state- and inter-state) levels, Omar Ashour's original volume unveils a promising new framework for collective deradicalisation and practical conflict resolution - a must read for policy-makers. -- Professor Emeritus Alex P. Schmid, former Officer-in-Charge, Terrorism Prevention Branch, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the author of the Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research An exceptionally insightful, valuable, and timely book. By comparing rebel demobilization across time, regions, and ideologies, Omar Ashour's star team of contributors have produced not just a work of reference but something as rare as an academic page-turner. -- Professor Thomas Hegghammer, Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and the author of The Caravan: Abdullah Azzam and Rise of Global Jihad