November 24-25, 2015, the U.S. State Department Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) will sponsor a regional conference in Bishkek on “Radicalisation and violent extremism in Central Asia.”
Ambassador Sheila Gwaltney will provide opening remarks on the first day of the event. Kyrgyzstan’s National Academy of Sciences in conjunction with Saferworld and the Foundation for Tolerance International will bring together forty scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from five Central Asian countries. Academics will present research papers on the topic, after which representatives of international organisations, local NGOs, state officials, and researchers will discuss the origins of the phenomenon and possible solutions.
Participants will examine the roots of radicalism and extremism from political, religious, and social perspectives, with discussions on ways to prevent radicalisation and extremism. Participants will then develop proposals of how to best address the issues.
Violent extremism and radicalisation call for the cooperation of Central Asian states to develop a united response and effective measures to prevent and counteract these security issues. Efforts focused on combating the spread of radical ideas and establishing dialogue with all key actors will require regional coordination at multiple levels to be successful.
