On March 10, 2025, the closing event of the research project “Configurations of Social and Political Practices in Dealing with Radical Islam (KURI)”, a consortium project of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) and the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), took place at the State Representation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in Berlin.
Under the coordination of Julian Junk (PRIF/HöMS) and Martin Kahl (IFSH), the joint project spent more than four years investigating which state and civil society measures were taken to prevent Islamism in Germany after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The political field of action is characterized by a large number of actors whose interests, perceptions of problems, coordination mechanisms and solution strategies are very different. Despite these fragmentations, conflicting interests and political struggles to assert oneself in dealing with Islamism, one of the basic ideas behind the project was to identify overarching tendencies and underlying logics.
The research project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). With the funding announcement “Societal Causes and Effects of Radical Islam in Germany and Europe”, the Ministry set itself the goal of finding out more about the social causes and effects of the rise of Islamism in Germany and Europe.
During the closing event, which was attended by around 60 people, the researchers involved presented the key findings of the KURI project and discussed them with experts from academia, politics, the police and civil society.
In his introductory lecture, Martin Kahl (IFSH) summarized the most important results of the KURI project: Measures tend to be shifted to the run-up to criminal acts and possible radicalization processes. There is no consistent overemphasis on security policy measures, but rather a balance between alarmism and restraint in response to individual events. Nevertheless, measures that outlast changes in the threat situation are being consolidated. The review of the effect of the adopted measures and their monitoring is deficient.
The first round of discussions focused on how the population, security authorities and politicians perceive and portray Islamism in Germany. Mona Klöckner (PRIF) began the round by presenting the results of her surveys on threat perceptions by the population. Lea Brost (IFSH) and Lea Scheu (PRIF) followed with a presentation on threat perceptions by politicians and security authorities.
Another panel discussion dealt with the question of what legal provisions and practical measures both the state and civil society institutions have taken in response to Islamist attacks and threats. In an introductory presentation, Isabelle Stephanblome (PRIF) explained the development of the legal framework for dealing with Islamism. In a further presentation, Martin Kahl (IFSH) and Julian Junk (PRIF/HöMS) outlined the developments in operational measures taken by state and civil society actors against Islamism.
The final panel discussed current challenges and opportunities in dealing with Islamism in Germany, not least with a view to the upcoming legislative period. The panel was moderated by Julian Junk and included Michael Kiefer from the University of Osnabrück, Götz Nordbruch from ufuq.de and Stefan Uecker, Head of Division H III 1 - Resilient Democracy and Extremism Prevention at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community.
The panel discussion was followed by a reception.
An anthology of the project results, edited by Julian Junk and Martin Kahl, will be published by Campus-Verlag in May 2025 under the title “Wie Deutschland mit Islamismus umgeht”.
Further information on the project and its publications can be found on the project website.