A/HRC/33/29 radicalization”12 in an attempt to identify individuals on the path to adopting, or already having adopted, “extremist” views. This approach by itself entails the danger that some States may adopt a sequencing approach which places the maintenance of security ahead of the protection of human rights. This risks infringing absolute rights and impeding the ability to impartially and objectively assess the level of required limitations on other rights. Capturing all trajectories towards possible terrorism and violent extremism at the earliest possible stage may require casting the security net so wide that human rights protections are rendered ineffective. 13. States have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to take “measures aimed at addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, including but not limited to prolonged unresolved conflicts, dehumanization of victims of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, lack of the rule of law and violations of human rights, ethnic, national and religious discrimination, political exclusion, socioeconomic marginalization and lack of good governance, while recognizing that none of these conditions can excuse or justify acts of terrorism”.13 What is needed is a sophisticated understanding of how violent extremist movements develop, and what pushes individuals to join them. This often requires the careful consideration of a combination of individual, situational, economic, social and cultural factors and their interplay, beyond simple security measures.14 Moreover, as emphasized by the Security Council and the Secretary-General, there is a need for gendersensitive research and data collection on the drivers of radicalization for women and on their role in violent extremism.15 14. While hard to understand, violent extremism clearly does not evolve in a vacuum. As such, it cannot be predicted by one variable alone.16 The Secretary-General stresses that the phenomenon “tends to thrive in an environment characterized by poor governance, democracy deficits, corruption and a culture of impunity”. He adds that violent extremist narratives become attractive where “human rights are being violated, good governance is being ignored and aspirations are being crushed”. 17 15. With empirical research being thus far scarce, a holistic approach to the factors and conditions contributing to the emergence of violent extremism is needed. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism also stressed that “the path to radicalization is individualized and non-linear, with a number of common ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors, but no single determining feature”.18 Furthermore, the 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 6 See M. Sageman, “The stagnation in terrorism research”, Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 26, Issue 4 (2014), pp. 568-569. General Assembly resolutions 60/288, 68/276 and 70/291. In this sense, see Arun Kundnani, “A decade lost: rethinking radicalisation and extremism” (Claystone, January 2015); ARTIS Research and Risk Modeling, “Theoretical Frames on pathways to violent radicalization” (August 2009), available from www.artisresearch.com/articles/ ARTIS_Theoretical_Frames_August_2009.pdf; Martha Crenshaw, “The causes of terrorism”, Comparative Politics, vol. 13, No. 4. (July 1981), pp. 379-399; Alex Schmid, “Radicalisation, deradicalisation, counter-radicalisation: a conceptual discussion and literature review” (The Hague, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2013); and Rik Coolsaet, “All radicalisation is local: the genesis and drawbacks of an elusive concept” (Egmont—Royal Institute for International Relations, June 2016), available from http://egmontinstitute.be/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ep84.pdf. Security Council resolution 2242 (2015); and A/70/674, para. 53. ARTIS Research and Risk Modeling, “Theoretical frames on pathways to violent radicalization”. See A/70/674, para. 3. See A/HRC/31/65, para. 15.