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Director Fellhofer: “The expertise of the Documentation Centre is appreciated and noticed beyond Austria's borders.”

The current crises have strengthened extremist movements within Europe, which is why cross-border cooperation is more important than ever. At the International Security Forum Bonn 2022 from 29 September to 2 October, the Austrian Fund for the Documentation of Religiously Motivated Political Extremism (Dokumentationsstelle Politischer Islam) was among those represented. Every year, international experts exchange views on current global issues at the event organised by the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at the University of Bonn. This year, the forum was held under the title "Zeitenwende - A New Era in International Relations and Security Cooperation"."

It is gratifying that the Documentation Centre can also make an important contribution at the European and international level with its work on research into political Islam. As a democratic society, we have a common responsibility not to leave the field to extremism in any area," emphasises Director Lisa Fellhofer, who represented the Documentation Centre in Bonn. Other renowned participants from politics and academia included former German Federal Minister Jürgen Trittin, CASSIS Director Ulrich Schlie or AJC Berlin Director Remko Leemhuis.

International networking against religious extremism

The European exchange will continue this week in the Swedish capital Stockholm from 6 to 7 October.Among other things, appointments with research institutions and the Centre for the Prevention of Violent Extremism will follow.During Director Fellhofer's visit, scientific exchange in research on Islamist and other extremist religious movements will be further deepened.

Documentation Centre does pioneering work in Europe

This year, there have already been business trips to Paris, London and Copenhagen, among other places. In addition, a conference entitled "Islamism after the Arab Spring" was successfully organised by the Documentation Centre on 29 and 30 June in Vienna with renowned national and international experts. There was an ongoing exchange with personalities from academia, administration and other areas of various states.

"With our activities and publications, we are doing fundamental pioneering work in the scientific investigation of religiously motivated political extremism within Europe. The focus is on political Islam, where the work of the Documentation Centre can also be groundbreaking for other states," says Fellhofer, who also refers to the transnational networking of organisations of political Islam. Since its foundation in 2020, the Documentation Centre has already published more than ten academic publications, including on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Grey Wolves, the Millî Görüş movement and Salafism.

All publications can be accessed here.