PREVENTING VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN GERMANY: COHERENCE AND COOPERATION IN A DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM michael herzog zu mecklenburg and ian anthony WORKING PAPER August 2020 Preventing Violent Extremism in Germany: Coherence and Cooperation in a Decentralized System michael herzog zu mecklenburg and ian anthony August 2020 STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. The Governing Board is not responsible for the views expressed in the publications of the Institute. GOVERNING BOARD Ambassador Jan Eliasson, Chair (Sweden) Dr Vladimir Baranovsky (Russia) Espen Barth Eide (Norway) Jean-Marie Guéhenno (France) Dr Radha Kumar (India) Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra (Algeria) Dr Patricia Lewis (Ireland/United Kingdom) Dr Jessica Tuchman Mathews (United States) DIRECTOR Dan Smith (United Kingdom Signalistgatan 9 SE-169 72 Solna, Sweden Telephone: +46 8 655 97 00 Email:
[email protected] Internet: www.sipri.org © SIPRI 2020 Contents Abbreviations ii 1. Introduction 1 Definitions and their utility 1 2. The German political and legal context 3 Statistics measuring crime and extremism 3 The German Constitution and political structures 6 German security institutions 6 3. Strategies for crime prevention and preventing violent extremism 8 Government strategies 8 The National Prevention