The Boston Globe runs an interesting—if skeptical—article on the various ‘de-radicalization’ programs currently in use in a number of Islamic countries, focusing of course on Saudi Arabia’s. The principle caution is that all the programs are new, so it’s not at all clear how long their effects may last. It cites a 2% recidivism rate for the Saudi program (an excellent result), but points out that those ‘with blood on their hands’ do not receive lighter sentences simply because they’ve enrolled in the program.

The Saudi program, to the dismay of some quoted in the article, focuses on the ‘softer’ targets, those who have not yet taken part in violent actions. That is as it should be, to my thinking. Catching them before they slip over to the dark side of the fence is going to be more productive than trying only to ‘fix’ the truly broken ones. It’ll be cheaper and easier, too.

The article notes that the reasons why an individual decides to become a violent extremist vary. The Saudi program seems to recognize this and deals with individuals as individuals, finding spouses for some, bringing family pressures to bear for others. Definitely worth reading.

How to defuse a human bomb
What would it take to persuade a terrorist to give up the life?
A growing number of specialists are trying to find out.
Drake Bennett

SAUDI ARABIA IS one of the last places on earth one would expect to find an art therapy course for convicted terrorists. The kingdom, after all, is known for an unforgiving approach to criminal justice: thieves risk having their hands amputated, “sexual deviance” is punishable by flogging, and drug dealers are beheaded.

And yet, over the past few years, jailed Saudi jihadis, led by therapists and motivated by the possibility of a shortened sentence, have been putting paint to paper to work their way through – and hopefully leave behind – the thoughts and feelings that drove them to support violent strains of Islam.

Extremist art therapy, it turns out, is only part of a new global movement to “deradicalize” terrorists. The Saudi program, a multipronged effort, is among the biggest and best-funded, but in recent years a growing number of Muslim countries and countries with large Muslim minorities have started similar ones: Indonesia, Malaysia, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt, Singapore, Great Britain, and the Netherlands among them. Last September, the US-led military coalition in Iraq created an ambitious program of its own to handle its more than 24,000 detainees. And psychologists and political scientists are starting to take an interest in the topic.
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