Bob Pearson

I have some mixed thoughts about this book. There are some really interesting ideas in here from people with diverse expertise, and is widely applicable to all types of extremist hate groups. However, the focus in the text is on countering Muslim extremism. It's presented as a timely example of a much wider problem, and I think the authors were careful and sensitive in their approach here, which I appreciate, but I still find myself wishing that they had taken a broader approach. show more Statistically speaking, we in the States are at much higher risk of violence from homegrown terrorists (including white supremacists, MRAs, incels, and anti-choice activists) than from religious radicals in the Middle East, and Islamophobic hate crimes have also increased under this administration. I worry that speaking singularly about Muslim violence in this way could have we the unintended effect of legitimizing people's fear and stigmatization of our peaceful Muslim neighbors while white Christian male terrorists continue to operate under too many people's radars. Additionally, the book does not go far enough to analyze the root causes (e.g. Western imperialism) behind Islamic terrorism, in my opinion. This kind of hostility doesn't exist in a void; while I think there are certainly steps that can be taken now to deradicalize some extremists and prevent future acts of terrorism, the solutions in this book can only go so far until we acknowledge and repair the actions behind the reactions. show less

I stopped reading Countering Hate on page 140. It offered lots of information but I found it almost lifeless, repetitious and disjointed. Needs to be shortened and better organized into categories based perhaps by country, terror groups or by availability of programs countering hate. I also found it confusing which government agencies, NGO's, private companies /organizations were participating in each countering hate program.

I did learn how terrorists were able to spread their messages show more quickly using social media.But I felt the subject of the West's disrespect and contempt for Muslim countries and their citizens living here significantly contributing to terror actions wasn't sufficiently addressed.

The book felt very corporate, as though I was reading a company manual which included mistakes made and overly broad suggestions for solutions.

The saving grace of Countering Hate are the personal essays and stories; excellent in explaining the what, where, who, when and why of terror much better than the main content. These stories personalize and bring to light the heart and feelings of those who feel the need to find meaningful connections in their lives, who gulliblly trust terror recruiters as people who care about them, and how community support for Muslim immigrants can make all the difference. show less

DNF @ p178. Countering hate is a noble goal but this book isn't going to shed much additional light or blaze any paths I can see. Reads like a vanity book published to raise someone's image or prior to applying for a grant or political position so they can say they've been published. Lots of hand waving about how a database on the internet is gonna solve problems. Let's be real. There is vast underestination of the effort in representing knowledge about real world events like terrorist show more attacks. The best computer science minds in the world would be needed. That's just to build it. Then to keep it clean and draw any conclusions from it? Coming from a specialist in database management, knowledge representation and artificial intelligence let me say anyone claiming a magic database is going to stop terrorism, or even lead to any new insights, is most likely selling you a bill of goods. The constant interruption with sidebars by guest authors often added nothing and I felt the book was just not moving towards any kind of actionable conclusion other than if you see a hateful message on social media, write back and say "you don't speak for me." Wow revolutionary. But I'm not on the ISIS group so there goes that idea. Did not finish at page 178. show less

Countering Hate is a book that has a wider potential use than its initial focus.Bob Pearson and Haroon K. Ullah wrote a book that uses the latest research on how people think, how they are radicalized, and how to market to people to create a technocratic approach to countering violent extremism and terrorism. The primary focus is on Islamist extremist groups such as Isis and al-Qaeda.

First, because so many who write about terrorism are just plain awful, let me assure you that Pearson and show more Ullah are very careful to distinguish between Muslims, Islamists, and extremists. They make the argument that Islamists can be allies to discourage violent extremism, if we would only be willing to talk to them, for example. They are respectful of Islam and aware that there are very real grievances.

The information they provide is useful and sometimes discouraging. So much of the work of anti-racism is done when people reach adulthood, but those ideas and biases form in elementary and high school. They make clear that to be really effective, we must reach people before they are 25.

They write about how people are radicalized and how that can be interrupted and what is most effective. Guess what, shaking your fist and ranting isn’t on the list.

Muslims are the primary victims of ISIS and al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. A good portion of this book is about what can be done in Muslim countries to interrupt radicalization. There’s plenty of myth-busting. It encourages me that someone with as much good sense is in government, though somehow I don’t think many in the Administration will be receptive to anything in this book.

The advice is good. I think much of it can be applied to combatting white nationalism, misogyny, and racism. Seeing what they wrote about how people are radicalized on the internet, you can see the exact process happening with incels.

I think they are too sanguine about potential abuses of power, with surveillance, profiling (particularly when the condemn stereotyping), and censorship. I think that a chapter or two on how these methods could be adapted to opposing white nationalists would make this a better book, but then, maybe not. They may be trying to get those in power to see sense. I wish them luck with that.

@bobpearson1845 Hi, I am about half way through “Countering Hate” which I think has useful information, but find myself questioning the singular focus on Islamist extremism. There’s many violent extremist movements. Wouldn’t a more universal approach be more effective?

— Tonstant Weader (@TonstantWeader1) May 3, 2018


Yes you are right. It does apply to all. We focused on one type to be consistent on how we wrote.

— Bob Pearson (@bobpearson1845) May 3, 2018

I received a copy of Countering Hate from a LibraryThing drawing for early reviewers.

Countering Hate at W₂0 Group
Bob Pearson at W₂0 Group
Haroon K. Ullah at Broadcasting Board of Governors and author site.

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2018/05/09/9780999662304/ show less