Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism Policies in Iraq: Educational and Pedagogical Institutions as a Model

The threat of extremism, terrorism, and the operations associated with it have become not limited to an area, a country, or the geography of a specific region, but rather a phenomenon that has invaded the world. Terrorist and jihadist organizations have become transnational and trans geographical, as they no longer exclude a specific country or region in their extremist operations. The phenomenon of terrorism is linked to social, cultural, political, and technical factors produced by the rapid and successive developments in the modern era. The first years of the 21st century witnessed a remarkable escalation in terrorist operations in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003. There is no doubt that there is a complexity and intertwining that characterizes the phenomenon of extremism and terrorism that is reflected in one way or another like the strategies and plans adopted by countries to confront the threat of terrorism and extremism. Hence, education is one of the most important tools and strategies that governments use in confronting extremism, especially since terrorism is a thought and an ideology that needs to be faced in a real intellectual way that countries can use to develop the consciousness of young students, to combat violence and its consequences.