Can terrorists be “deradicalized?”

Hour 1

With President Obama pressing to close the U.S. terrorist prison at Guantanamo, while reports surface that some previously released prisoners have rejoined al-Qaida, we take a look at what options governments have to deal with accused terrorists. One of the most interesting is the effort to deradicalize terrorists that’s being pioneered by the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has a better success rate of reintegrating Islamist militants into its mainstream society than it has in rehabilitating common criminals. JESSICA STERN teaches courses on terrorism and counterterrorism at the Harvard Law School’s Program on Terrorism and the Law. She is the author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kil, and has a new article in Foreign Affairs that looks at the Saudi program and considers its prospects for success and transplantation elsewhere.
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[audio: 011110_100630.mp3]