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{
  "authors": [
    "Marouan Felfel",
    "Amir Faouzi Ben Ameur",
    "Emir Sfaxi",
    "Sarah Yerkes"
  ],
  "type": "event",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
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  "collections": [
    "Arab Awakening"
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  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
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  "projects": [
    "Tunisia Monitor"
  ],
  "regions": [
    "North Africa",
    "Tunisia"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Democracy",
    "Security",
    "Civil Society"
  ]
}
Event

The Role of Youth Engagement in Countering Violent Extremism

Thu, April 20th, 2017

Washington, DC

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Project

Tunisia Monitor

Carnegie’s Tunisia Monitor project tracks the status of the country’s transition in the economic, political, and security spheres. This project provides original analysis and policy recommendations from a network of Tunisian contributors and Carnegie experts to inform decisionmakers in Tunisia, Europe, and the United States. This endeavor is supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.

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Tunisia is facing a growing threat from the potential return of thousands of foreign fighters who joined the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, while extremist groups continue to recruit young Tunisians into their ranks. To discuss the role that youth can play in addressing these trends, Carnegie’s Sarah Yerkes moderated a discussion with Marouan Felfel, a member of the Tunisian parliament from Machrou Tounes, and two youth civil society activists—Amir Ben Ameur and Emir Sfaxi. The speakers described how youth frustration with the Tunisian government and exclusion from the political system feeds radicalization. They argued that socio-economic reforms must take place soon, and begin to be felt by the society at large, in order to prevent further extremist recruitment. While the speakers disagreed somewhat about the role of government in engaging with youth, they all recognized the need for better linkages between civil society and government.

North AfricaTunisiaPolitical ReformDemocracySecurityCivil Society

Event Speakers

Marouan Felfel
Amir Faouzi Ben Ameur
Emir Sfaxi
Sarah Yerkes
Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Sarah Yerkes

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

Event Speakers

Marouan Felfel

Amir Faouzi Ben Ameur

Emir Sfaxi

Sarah Yerkes

Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Sarah Yerkes

Sarah Yerkes is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on Tunisia’s political, economic, and security developments as well as state-society relations in the Middle East and North Africa.

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