The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is a political advocacy organization founded in 2006 by Sasha Havlicek and

George Weidenfeld George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld (13 September 1919 – 20 January 2016) was a British publisher, philanthropist, and newspaper columnist. He was also a lifelong Zionist and renowned master networker. He was on good terms with popes, prime mi ...

and headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom.

Activities

ISD's core activities range from traditional research output and policy advice to the facilitation of youth and practitioner networks and the development of counternarrative and technological tools to combat extremism. More recently, ISD has researched

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

and

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

involving

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

, election integrity, and conspiracy networks such as

QAnon QAnon ( ) is a far-right conspiracy theories in United States politics, American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals kno ...

. ISD partners with a number of Western governments, including agencies in Canada, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. It also works on funded projects with technology companies and organisations such as

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Meta Meta most commonly refers to: * Meta (prefix), a common affix and word in English ( in Greek) * Meta Platforms, an American multinational technology conglomerate (formerly ''Facebook, Inc.'') Meta or META may also refer to: Businesses * Meta (ac ...

, and the

Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is an Internet industry initiative to share proprietary information and technology for automated content moderation. History Founded in 2017 by a consortium of companies spearheaded by Fac ...

. Other institutional partners include the Global Disinformation Index, the

Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...

Institut Montaigne Institut Montaigne is a think tank based in Paris, France, founded in 2000. Institut Montaigne makes public policy recommendations to advance its agenda, which broadly reflects that of the large French companies that fund it. It contracts experts ...

, the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972, through a gift from the W ...

, the

University of Ontario Institute of Technology The University of Ontario Institute of Technology, branded as Ontario Tech University or Ontario Tech, is a public research university located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is located on approximately of land in northe ...

, and the

International Centre for Counter-Terrorism The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) is an independent think-and-do tank providing multidisciplinary policy advice and practical support focused on prevention, the rule of law and current and emerging threats three important part ...

. Funding for the ISD has come from the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

, the

Omidyar Network Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over US$1.5billion to no ...

, the Gen Next Foundation, and the

Open Society Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the st ...

Origins

ISD was founded in 2006 as an extension of the

Club of Three Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

, a strategic networking organisation founded in 1996 by

that focused on high-level engagement between Europe and the world. ISD originally focused on

social cohesion Group cohesiveness, also called group cohesion, social harmony or social cohesion, is the degree or strength of bonds linking members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it ...

and radicalisation following a rise of

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

and Islamist extremism in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. ISD later hosted the

Against Violent Extremism Against Violent Extremism (AVE) is a global network of former extremists, survivors of violence and interested individuals from the public and private sectors - working together to counter all forms of violent extremism. A partnership between Lon ...

network shortly after it was founded in 2011 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, promoting engagement with former violent extremists as a way of understanding how extremist movements work. By 2012, ISD was working with

social media platforms Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation, sharing and aggregation of content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongst virtual communities and networks. Common features include: * Online ...

such as

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

to explore radicalisation online, including research on the use of counternarratives to minimise the impact of extremist recruitment by groups such as

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Al Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, and

white supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...

in Europe and North America. This work later expanded to include recruitment and disruption efforts by state actors and conspiracy theorists during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Much of this activity was found to be amplified during regional and national

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

s, leading to new research on election disruption in countries such as Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Kenya, and the United States. ISD's analysis of the 6 January United States Capitol attack was chosen for inclusion in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Programs

* Business Council for Democracy (BC4D): A joint initiative from Hertie Stiftung,

Robert Bosch Stiftung The is a German foundation that owns a majority shareholding in Robert Bosch GmbH, from which it derives its funding. The foundation was established in accordance with the wishes of Robert Bosch, who died in 1942, and conducts and finances s ...

, and ISD Germany, BC4D provides employee training on hate speech, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. * Digital Policy Lab (DPL): Funded by the

German Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-level ...

, the DPL is an intergovernmental working group focused on regulation and policy regarding disinformation, hate speech, extremism, and terrorism online. * ''Beam'': Developed in partnership with the Centre for Analysis of Social Media (CASM), ''Beam'' uses online surveillance technology to detect, track, and attempt to measure online manipulation, disinformation, and harassment. ''Beam'' was a winner of the 2021 U.S.-Paris Tech Challenge. * Prevention Practitioner Network: Developed in partnership with the

McCain Institute The McCain Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based nonpartisan think tank established in cooperation with Arizona State University with the stated mission to "fight for democracy, human dignity, and security for a world that is free, safe, and jus ...

, the Prevention Practitioner Network is a national network focusing on prevention of targeted violence and terrorism within the United States. * Strong Cities Network (SCN): Launched at the United Nations in September 2015, SCN is a global network of mayors, municipal-level policy-makers, and practitioners seeking to build social cohesion and counter violent extremism. * Youth Civil Activism Network (YouthCAN): Launched in Oslo, Norway in 2015, YouthCAN is a global youth network of counter-extremism and social justice activists. * Be Internet Citizens (BIC): Developed in partnership with

in 2017, BIC is a digital literacy program for youth that aims to explain fake news, echo chambers, filter bubbles, and promote safety online, especially on

. * Shared Endeavour Fund: ISD managed an £800,000 fund, supported by

Google.org Google.org, founded in October 2005, is the charitable arm of Google, a multinational technology company. The organization has committed roughly US$100 million in investments and grants to nonprofits annually. The organization is noted for severa ...

and the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

, to empower communities to tackle violent extremism and a rise in hate crime offences in London. ISD is also a member of the Christchurch Call advisory network and the Commission for Countering Extremism's Expert Group in the United Kingdom.

Past programs

* The Far-Right Extremism in Europe (FREE) Initiative *

(AVE) network: A global network of former extremists and survivors of violence working together to counter

violent extremism Violent extremism is a form of extremism that condones and enacts violence with Ideology, ideological or deliberate intent, such as Religious violence, religious or political violence. Violent extremist views often conflate with Religious violen ...

. * Counter Conversations: Developed as a research project with

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, this initiative facilitates interventions between former extremists and young people who show extremist tendencies. * Online Civil Courage Initiative (OCCI): A strategic partnership with

, OCCI launched in Germany in 2016 and expanded to France and the UK in 2017. OCCI helps develop new responses to

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

and violent extremism on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

* Policy Planners’ Network (PPN): A European inter-governmental network of policy chiefs improving coordinated responses to integration and extremism. * Innovation Fund to Counter Extremism: Launched with

in 2017, this fund distributed £1M to support organisations countering hate, racism, and extremism in the UK. ISD previously chaired the EU's Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) working group on the Internet and social media and has provided testimony to the US Committee on House Administration, the US Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the UK Home Affairs Select Committee.

Selected publications

* Ayad, Moustafa
"The Vladimirror Network: Pro-Putin Power-Users on Facebook"
(April 2022) * O'Connor, Ciaran
"Hatescape: An In-Depth Analysis of Extremism and Hate Speech on TikTok"
(August 2021) * Miller, Carl; Smith, Melanie, Marsh, Oliver; Balint, Kata; Inskip, Chris; Visser, Francesca
"Information Warfare and Wikipedia"
(October 2022) * *

References

External links

* {{Authority control Foreign policy and strategy think tanks based in the United Kingdom International organisations based in London