Converting for terrorist purposes: challenging the conceptual unidirectionality of the threat

Abstract

Terrorism is typically included among the grave societal challenges resulting from radicalisation of certain groups. The phrase ‘radical converts’ typically evokes an image of a convert to Islam, whereas an individual converting from Islam to other religions is not associated with a terrorist threat. When it comes to threat assessment, the conversion of Christianity to Islam is typically deemed a potential warning sign. On the contrary, the Islam-to-Christianity path is typically dismissed as a marker of extremist attitudes. This paper challenges the unidirectionality of this assumption and provides a reconceptualised framework for assessing the potential terrorist threat posed by converts. It does so by firstly exploring the problem of instrumental conversions and subsequently contextualising them through the 2021 Liverpool bombing case study. The findings based on a survey and interviews with key stakeholders confirm that instrumental conversions do not exclude engagement in political violence and that conversions to rather than from Christianity should also be taken into consideration when formulating policy responses.