Thread by @_MAArgentino

As @milleridriss hilights "you can’t tackle domestic extremism by only paying attention to the fringe you also have to pay attention to what’s happening in the mainstream."
This speak to the fact that there needs to be a shift in how we look at extremists
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Working and researching in this space we need to consider the current iteration of threat actors from a network and systems perspective. This is something I've been discussing with @AlexBNewhouse, @Adnanr23 @AmarAmarasingam, and @JordanWildon.

The amorphous nature of threat actors and the crosspollination of ideologies, grievances and narratives -due to the functionality of alt-tech spaces- as well as shifts in the type of threat actors in the pre-radicalization space means we need to take a big picture approach.

Yes fringe threat actors have made the news a but more recently, however there is a spectrum of threat actors and radicalization does not necessarily start on the fringe.

Also, @milleridriss makes a great point that "if we just frame the whole thing as a security and law enforcement problem, with security and law enforcement experts at the helm, we’re just going to get that outcome" this again is an important point to consider.

Therefore there is a need to extend the research and policy approach beyond national security apparatus to include policy objectives and organizations that deal with culture, education, health and sports as to take a holistic approach to the landscape.

Ultimately, it comes down to if the goal is to be proactive or reactive and if this is to be a long term solution.