In recent years, radical religious organisations have been making headway in their efforts to recruit new followers to their extremist causes. Harnessing new technologies, decentralised groups like ISIS or ‘Daesh’, can now spread their messages far and wide across borders, sometimes without the need to make face-to-face contact with their converts.
Instead of reacting blindly to these narratives of hate, which have inspired increasing numbers of lone wolf and small cell attacks around the world, the challenge is to take control of the narrative itself. In this lecture, Dr Ahmed Abbadi, will share his views on how we may be able to shape our own narratives in this battle over hearts and minds.

Dr Ahmed Abbadi heads the Mohammedan League of Scholars that operates 15 centres around Morocco, which are engaged in research and training on religious issues. As part of these efforts, graduate students in Islamic fields are trained to deconstruct extremist arguments and work directly with people in disadvantaged areas where extremists may recruit.
Furthermore, Dr Abbadi is an expert on soft security measures to counter the terrorist message and propaganda (how to build a counter narrative and to diffuse it, using the relevant channels). He takes part in different multilateral forums on this topic. He can thus, explain the Moroccan CVE policy and measures, with a view on the international framework related to this process.