For Immediate Release, September 28, 2015
Contact: resolve@resolvenet.org

(Washington) -- The U.S. Institute of Peace, State  Department and U.S. Agency for International Development convened researchers from around the world this month to launch a collaborative research network on ways to counter and prevent violent extremism. The new network will help researchers inject their critical knowledge of conditions in their localities into the global development of policies and practices in countering violent extremism.

The network, called Researching Solutions to Violent Extremism, or RESOLVE, is a consortium of research organizations and individuals from across the academic and practitioner spectrum. It will coordinate and allow sharing of ideas regarding violent extremism in local contexts and successful strategies for opposing it. Building up from the local level, the network will leverage the combined research to provide policymakers and other practitioners with a more comprehensive and global approach to resisting violent extremism.

RESOLVE was launched at the International Peace Institute in New York on September 22 at a conference that included more than 20 researchers from South America, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. They were joined by representatives from foreign ministries, U.S. government agencies, the United Nations, the World Bank, and non-governmental organizations. The meeting was opened by Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall; former U.S. ambassador Maureen Quinn of the International Peace Institute; and Andrew Blum of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

The network was created following the summit conference on countering violent extremism (CVE) convened by the White House in February to enhance understanding of the dynamics of the growing threat through research. It will begin by developing “research clusters,” each with either a regional or thematic focus. Researchers, institutions, practitioners and policymakers will be linked through a “knowledge platform” as well as regional and global meetings, and will be encouraged to collaborate on projects. The U.S. Institute of Peace will serve as the network’s secretariat to coordinate its activities.

Under Secretary Sewall, who leads State Department efforts to prevent and counter threats to civilian security and effective governance, described RESOLVE as "an important outcome [of the White House conference] because it will help to dramatically accelerate [CVE] research to identify salient local dynamics. Over time, it will help identify effective interventions."

According to Blum, “This conference was aimed at better understanding the challenges of doing work in combating violent extremism at the local level and seeing how a global network can help address them. We’ve now launched the RESOLVE Network and can take the next steps to grow it.”