CSIS Commission on Countering Violent Extremism

The CSIS Commission on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) was formed to develop a comprehensive and actionable blueprint on how to effectively combat the growing appeal of violent extremism within the United States and abroad. Specifically, the Commission considered what the next U.S. administration must do, in close collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental partners, to diminish the appeal of extremist ideologies and narratives.

This bipartisan commission was composed of 23 public- and private-sector leaders from technology companies, civil society, the faith community, and academia. Since its public launch in February 2016, the Commission met six times and consulted with more than a hundred experts and practitioners throughout the United States, Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The Commission’s consultations were augmented by extensive research and a survey conducted in China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.

This report is the culmination of the Commission’s deliberations. It outlines a comprehensive strategy for the incoming U.S. president, combining bolstered investments in soft power alongside sustained military and law enforcement efforts, strong and steady U.S. leadership, and an expansion of public-private partnerships to scale up proven CVE interventions.

Co-Chairs

• Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Leon Panetta, Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Former Secretary of Defense
   

Managing Director of the Commission

• Shannon N. Green, Senior Fellow and Director, CSIS Human Rights Initiative
   

Senior Advisers and Commissioners

• Farah Pandith, Former Special Representative to Muslim Communities and Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
• Juan Zarate, Former Deputy National Security Adviser for Combatting Terrorism and Senior Adviser, CSIS
   

Commissioners

• Ahmed Abbadi, Secretary General, Mohammadian League of Scholars, Morocco
• Scott Atran, Directeur de Recherche, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Founding Fellow, Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict, University of Oxford
• Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management, Facebook
• Ambassador (ret.) Nicholas Burns, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
• Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Chairman of Spitzberg Partners, LLC, Distinguished Statesman at CSIS, and Former Minister of Defense of Germany
• Stephen Hadley, Former National Security Advisor
• Sherman Jackson, King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture, University of Southern California
• Fred Khosravi, Co-Founder and Partner, Incept, LLC and Board Member, CSIS
• Nancy Lindborg, President, United States Institute of Peace
• Mohamed Magid, Imam, All Dulles Area Muslim Society and Chairman, International Interfaith Peace Corps
• Martha Minow, Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor, Harvard Law School
• Vali Nasr, Dean and Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
• Mark Penn, President and Managing Partner, The Stagwell Group
• Dina Powell, Head of Global Impact Investing, Goldman Sachs and Former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy
• Jane Rosenthal, Executive Chair, Tribeca Enterprises and Co-Founder, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute
• Brad Smith, President, Microsoft
• Frances Townsend, Executive Vice President for Worldwide Government, Legal and Business Affairs, MacAndrews and Forbes Incorporated
• Kent Walker, General Counsel, Google
• Jay Winik, Author and Historian