What the Nazi era can teach us about deradicalizing extremists

There is something powerful lurking behind the message ofISIS.More than 3,400peoplefrom the West and thousands morefrom nearby regionshave left their homes to live in a war zone, Associated Press reports.

ISIS glorifies violence, showing beheaded journalists with the gusto of a Nikead, ransacks and destroys museums and commits mass slaughters, whilefrantically awaiting an apocalypse,according to some, such as Atlantic editor Graeme Wood, who hasstudied its messages carefully.

And while ISIS territorial expansion may have stalled, new groups in countries likeLibya and Nigeria have pledged their allegiance to it, raising the question of how the West could combat its underlying message.

"This is no longer about territory, this is about ideas," Heather Gregg, aprofessor of defenceanalysis and religious violenceat the Naval PostgraduateSchool in California, said in an interview.

Throughout history, humanity has dealtwith contagious ideas preaching brutality and disregard for life. One response to this challenge has involved efforts to convert radicals away from their destructive ideas.

In the 1930s and 1940s, for example,Nazis and their associates systematically murdered millions, announcing that non-Aryan peopleswere subhuman.

During the Second World War, when it suddenly became imperative to create new defences against a relentless attack, Western military and civilian agencies deployeda combination of modern sociology,psychology, and technology to focuson ideological change, Kristi Cooper, an Oxford University expert in Second World Warcounter-ideology, said in an interview.

"It was not so much about changing minds, it was about frustrating ambitions,"said Cooper. "It was providing the proper structures and incentives to offer theman alternative future."

Throughout the war, the British captured Nazi prisoners, whom they studiedin detail. The British evaluated their motivations and dedication, and focusedtheir attention on those in the grey zone, who were not too adamant about theirbeliefs.

"This was the chief group whose attitudes could be easily influenced, andinfluence formation was the objective. These converts were then used toidentify others and a key technique was the encouragement of their peers in thebelief of an alternative future."

Denazification was concerned with removing those with strong Nazi views frompositions of power and this ideological work was concerned with ensuring asmuch as possible that those useful to the British cause were identified and givenpositions of influence, said Cooper.

She said the hope for reintegration into the European community was key toGermany leaving behind Nazism and transforming itself into one of the mostpowerful democracies in Europe.

Today, several programs are in use to combat the ISIS messages.

Extreme Dialogue in Canada and the 77th Brigade in England are two programs Western countries are using to directly combat these ideas from spreading.

In Montreal a tip line is beingcreated so people can report extremists ofany kind.

Most deradicalization programs engage in theological debate and some bringin support from families, financial influence, vocational training and mental-health care.

Since there is no way to measure a person's deep beliefs, data ishard to collect and success is difficult to measure.

The messenger is important

Since ISIS draws heavily on religion for recruitment and retention, Gregg thinksreligious debate is crucial.But she saysthe messenger is as importantas the message.

She says when secular leaders like Barack Obama, president of the UnitedStates, or moderate Muslims try to engage in the religious conversation, theymay be reinforcing ISIS's argumentthat these groups are trying to lead people astray.

The best messengers, she said, are former extremists.

However, Mark Sedgwick, professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at AarhusUniversity in Denmark, said in an interview that since there isnt only one reason people joinISIS, individual cases must be treated differently.

"If you've got someone with mental health issues, you want to address thoseand not engage in a theological debate or a discussion of international relations.

"If you're dealing with a former colonel in Saddam's army ...he's engaging in aparticular conflict and that's the point that needs to be addressed."

Unforeseen consequences

Much like military intervention, cultural and psychological interventions canhave dangerous, unforeseen consequences.

After the British identified and encouraged former Nazis they hoped wouldpromote British values, they saw a number become ardent Communists.

Ribal al-Assad, who is the cousin of Syria's President Bashar al-Assadbut opposes him andcampaigns for human rights, said in an interviewthat people in Iraq and Syria who are fighting alongside ISIS don't necessarilybelieve in the religious fundamentalism of the group but join because they haveno other options.

Like denazification,the coalition forces invaded Iraq with the goal oferadicating the influence of Saddam Hussein's party. In doing so, theyimplemented "debaathification."

Any public sector employee related to Husseins secular Baath party was fired.This meant that some 30,000 teachers, judges, politicians and engineers foundthemselves jobless. On top of that, the coalitiondissolved the approximately 500,000-membermilitary.

"ISIS was set up by the Baathists, or former Baathists, because they wantto scare the West and they want the West to come talk to them because they(the Baathists) can get rid of them," Ribal al-Assadsaid.

Maryam Namazie, a human rights activist, says the Western media shoulddiscuss and try to combat ISIS as a fascist movement instead of an Islamic one.

"It's sort of portrayed as what people want in the Middle East, North Africaor South Asia and its important to show how this movement actually makesinroadsby limiting people's rights and by slaughtering people, Namazie said in an interview.

"It's no longer about the belief, it's about power."

Alyssa McMurtry is a freelance journalistbased in Madrid.