The Breakdown of State-building: From the Nation to Radicalisation

Abstract

This article attempts to explore the nexus between exclusionary state-building practices, inter-ethnic relations and Violent Extremism and Radicalisation that Lead to Terrorism (VERLT). The current focus on individual trajectories has left the social context in which individuals radicalise underexplored. By taking a birds-eye view, this article aims to untangle the ways in which particular historic conditions and perceptions of discrimination and marginalisation following state-building practices feed specifically into the radicalisation of minority communities. Following a comparison between state-building practices in Turkey, China and Spain and the impact on Kurdish, Uyghur and Basque identity construction respectively, the authors argue that the failure to include minority groups into the identity of the state is one of the key reasons for the politicisation of minority identities. This implies the need for inclusionary policies as a response to VERLT. It is exactly through the promotion, facilitation and execution of inclusive policies that the OSCE can make an important contribution.

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