STATE OF THE ART: Countering Violent Extremism as a Field of Practice

CVE PVE Democratization

Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is a rapidly expanding field of practice. Despite its impressive growth, CVE has struggled to establish a clear and compelling definition as a field; has evolved into a catch-all category that lacks precision and focus; reflects problematic assumptions about the conditions that promote violent extremism; and has not been able to draw clear boundaries that distinguish CVE programs from those of other, well-established fields, such as development and poverty alleviation, governance and democratization, and education. In addition, in reframing work in such fields in terms of its contribution to the prevention of terrorism, CVE poses significant risks to practitioners and participants whose local engagement may be seen as extensions of America’s often-controversial counterterrorism (CT) policies and thus as legitimate targets of critics of such policies.