Most research on violent radicalisation often focuses on why people take up arms, and very little has focused on why individuals choose not to engage in political violence.

Aiming to contribute to the larger debate on the sources of resilience to violent radicalisation in the Middle East and North Africa, and how to understand the intersection between ideational and material factors in preventing Islamist youth from following a violent path, the Middle East Directions Programme and the EU-LISTCO project organised a roundtable debate to try answer the question: why aren’t more Islamists taking up arms in Tunisia and Egypt?

In this video, Georges Fahmi highlights the main points raised in his presentation.

* The EU-LISTCO project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement n° 769886.