Academics and experts on terrorism from around the world have been meeting in Melbourne to discuss ways to stop the spread of militant groups globally.
And the conference has heard examples of how various countries are dealing with the threats posed by terrorism now.
Deakin University's Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation organised the summit.
The Institute's director, Professor Fethi Mansouri, says much of the discussion and debate around terrorism up to now has lacked nuance and adequate academic research.
"Our role as academic institutions is to make sure that we create those platforms on the basis of research and to bring informed experts who are willing to share their analyses and their studies with the wider community. And I think that can only be a positive thing."
Professor Mansouri says involving the communities is crucial.
"It's counterproductive not to involve the communities concerned in general, but in particular in the case of Australia, the various Muslim communities. So that's, if you like, something that will add value to whatever various agencies and departments are trying to achieve, so that is, if you like, something that makes sense. But in terms of a broader, ethical point of view, I think it doesn't really do us any good if we were to essentially paint the whole community of Muslims -- which is, in Australia, for instance, half a million now -- with the same brush of certain radical, violent groups, and I think that is not really an ethical approach to the situation either. And also, because there's a strong belief that is backed by evidence that the best way to understand, the best way to prevent in some cases, some of these problems is to work in meaningful, respectful partnerships with communities."
Among the international voices contributing to the discussion was the Danish Institute for International Studies' Ann-Sophie Hemmingsen.
Denmark introduced what it called "countering violent extremism" measures, or CVEs, in 2014.
Dr Hemmingsen detailed how the programs work, including in dealing with returning foreign fighters.
"The Danish approach is, of course, there is the possibility of prosecuting individuals if they have committed crimes in Syria or Iraq, and that will, of course, be investigated, but, in the cases where no such prosecutions are relevant, there is an attempt to receive returnees in ways that, I would say, are designed to minimise the risk that they become frustrated with their own country and turn against their own country."
She says, so far, it has been difficult to measure how effective the program has been.
"Like so many other CVE initiatives, there are no evaluations of effectiveness. So this is the way that returnees are dealt with, is a continuation of a more general Danish approach to preventing radicalisation into violent extremism, and that's something that's been going on for nearly 10 years by now. But this focus on returnees from conflict areas, that's a relatively new thing. We've seen in the past Danes returning from other conflict areas -- for example, Afghanistan and Somalia -- but there's never been that much of a focus on receiving them, on rehabilitating them, so this focus on returnees is a relatively new thing, and there are indications that some parts at least have been successful."
But Dr Hemmingsen says it is difficult to say whether those experiences are relevant.
"In the municipality of Aarhus, they have been receiving up to 30 individuals who have travelled to Syria who then return back to Denmark, and they've managed to sort of stop the traffic of individuals travelling. So it's a much smaller number travelling today. And you could say that they've been successful, in the sense that none of these individuals who've returned have committed any violent acts in Denmark. But the question is if that is relevant today, because these individuals were individuals who travelled in 2013, so prior to the establishment of the so-called caliphate of the so-called Islamic State, and, without having done evaluations, it's my impression that these individuals who travelled and returned back then were not necessarily joining ISIS."
Professor David Cook is from Rice University in the United States.
He says, although much of the world's focus is on groups like IS, Boko Haram in Nigeria is also a threat.
The group formed an alliance with IS and has since helped IS with attacks in Libya.
Dr Cook says the group is deadlier than IS but he doubts it could have the same global reach of IS.
"It has not succeeded in jumping ethnic boundaries, it has not succeeded in suborning or even beginning to convince Muslim elites to join its cause, and so I think that, although Boko Haram is an extremely deadly group, that it has not succeeded in making itself a global mass movement."
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