Excerpt:
The revised counterterrorism strategy that the British government launched last week is confusing and contradictory. With deft sleight of hand, the dense document popularly known as "Contest 2" appears to give with one hand what it takes away with the other.
At first glance, there is much to celebrate in the revised strategy document. For the first time, the founder of Pakistan's Jamaat-e Islami movement, Abul Ala Maududi, and the Egyptian godfather of modern jihad whom he inspired, Sayyid Qutb, are both named as significant "Islamist thinkers." This sends a symbolic message to their followers that the government considers them part of the problem.
There is now also official acceptance that ideology plays a role in motivating and radicalizing terrorists. Previous government documents considered only sociological factors such as racism, discrimination and lack of social mobility. The current shift is an important first step in overcoming the ideological Stockholm syndrome that has traditionally dominated official British thinking on these matters.
But much of this is a false dawn. In essence, Contest 2 is the continuation of a failed policy.