The Three Pillars of Radicalization ― Needs, Narratives, and Networks

What fuels radicalization? Is deradicalization a possibility? The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks addresses these crucial questions by identifying the three major determinants of radicalization that progresses into violent extremism. The first determinant is the need: individuals' universal desire for personal significance. The second determinant is narrative, which guides members in their "quest for significance." The third determinant is the network, or membership in one's group that validates the collective narrative and dispenses rewards like respect and veneration to members who implement it.

In this book, Arie W. Kruglanski, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Rohan Gunaratna present a new model of radicalization that takes into account factors that activate the individual's quest for significance. Synthesizing varied empirical evidence, this volume reinterprets prior theories of radicalization and examines major issues in deradicalization and recidivism, which will only become more relevant as communities continue to negotiate the threat of extremism.

Arie W. Kruglanski is Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland. He is the recipient of several awards including the National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Award, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and the Donald Campbell Award for Outstanding Contributions to Social Psychology from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He is Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society, and presently serves as co-founder and senior investigator at the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism. His research interests are in the domains of human judgment and decision making, the motivation-cognition interface, group and intergroup processes, the psychology of human goals, and the social psychological aspects of terrorism.

Jocelyn J. Belanger is Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University Abu Dhabi. His research seeks to understand why, and under which circumstances, individuals are willing to sacrifice their lives for a cause. Dr. Belanger is the architect behind Montreal's Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence. He also trains psychologists and social workers on the rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremist offenders. Dr. Belanger is the recipient of several awards such as the APA Dissertation Research Award and the Guy Begin Award for the Best Research Paper in Social Psychology.

Rohan Gunaratna is Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technology University, and Founder of International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore. The author and editor of 20 books including Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror (Columbia University Press), Gunaratna edited the Insurgency and Terrorism Series of the Imperial College Press, London. A trainer for national security agencies, law enforcement authorities, and military counter-terrorism units, he has interviewed terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and other conflict zones. For advancing international intelligence cooperation, Gunaratna received the Major General Ralph H. Van Deman Award in June 2014.