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22 Pol. Q. Int'l Aff. 98 (2013)
Preserving the Pied Piper: The Importance of Leadership in Deradicalisation

handle is hein.journals/polqurint22 and id is 98 raw text is: AHMAD EL-BUCKLEY Preserving the Pied Piper: The Importance of Leadership in Deradicalisation The ability to inspire hope, restore confidence, ameliorate frustration, enforce obedience, stir inspiration and embolden character is what makes a potent leader. Many a victory in battle was wrested solely by the acumen of leadership, and many defeats were the direct cause of enemy decapitation and the disarray that followed. And just like all wars, the study and analysis of the global War on Terror must address the issue of leadership and its importance in achieving victory. Evidently, works abound on this issue in the context of counter-terrorism, many of which stress the effects of decapitation on reducing the efficacy of terrorist organisations. However, few speak of the detrimental effects this tactic might have on long-term deradicalisation efforts that aim to uproot the very causes of violent extremism. This article argues that while proponents of decapitation and targeted killings of terrorist leaders advance logically sound arguments, empirical studies have often shown that these arguments do not take hold in reality. The article then draws on the Egyptian experience with the deradicalisation of Islamist militant groups to claim that capturing rather than eliminating certain types of leaders can have a substantial impact on efforts to reform weakly committed foot-soldiers of terrorist organisations and non-violent sympathisers, which should be at the heart of all long-term counter-terrorism strategies. The potential of leaders to become heralds of disengagement and deradicalisation must be considered before sending out the order for liquidation. Testing Hypotheses on Decapitation One of the simplest definitions of targeted killings is that they are acts that involve the intentional slaying of a specific individual or group of individuals The Polish Quarterly of International Affairs, 2013, no. 1

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