According to the British government, centers of Islamic studies in Britain are an important part of its counter-terrorism strategy. Launched in March, the “Contest 2” strategy repeats its predecessor in setting forth a predictably alliterative “Pursue-Prevent-Protect-Prepare” approach to defeating violent extremism.

The strategy is, undeniably, an improvement over the original, in that it acknowledges the broader need to challenge the Islamist narrative, even when that narrative is not explicitly violent. That is where the academic centers come in: their role, claims the government, is to “challenge the ideology that supports violent extremism and support those who develop positive alternatives” by “address[ing] the gaps in Islamic studies, teaching, and research.”

Unfortunately, Iran is a step, if not two or three, ahead of this strategy. There are some obvious problems inherent to relying on universities, including the biases of the Middle Eastern Studies field and, as the Centre for Social Cohesion in Britain has revealed, the reliance of many British universities on Middle Eastern sources of funding.

But Iran is taking a more direct approach. The Tehran Times reports that the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology “feels the necessity to help establish and strengthen departments of Islamic studies. . . .  The departments will be set up to train and educate experts on Islam so as to assist in the introduction of Islam and its realities to the world in a proper academic setting.” I very much doubt that many British universities will look askance at this assistance, especially if it’s lubricated with Iranian funding. That the Iranian regime has survived, in part, by brutally oppressing student-led reform movements will not matter in the slightest.

On the other hand, Americans should not be looking down their noses at Britain. We’re targets too. The Ministry says that it is “currently studying proposals by numerous world academic centers and universities including several universities from Britain, the United States, and Germany.” The close trade ties between Germany and Iran are well-attested, so the mention of Germany comes as no surprise. But it would be very interesting to know which U.S. universities took the initiative to seek out the Iranians. It’s precisely that kind of accommodating attitude, here and in Britain, that leaves me skeptical
about the utility of relying on higher education to defeat Islamism.

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