“The first level of analysis is always factual,” she explains.
When, in May 2017, a bomb at Ariana Grande’s Manchester Arena concert killed 23, including its detonator, Malik was about to leave on her honeymoon. Nikita Malik, director of the Centre on Radicalisation & Terrorism at The Henry Jackson Society in London, works to mould society’s conversation around terror in the UK.
In the throes of the 24-hour news cycle’s darkest turns, their lives are often unplannable. Most days, the work involves a short hop from her Brooklyn home to her office in Manhattan, where she takes meetings with coders, academics and engineers to help shape important conversations – be it about best YouTube practice around hate-filled video posts, or what role virtual reality may come to play in the war on terror. Take Yasmin Green, the 37-year-old Iranian-born, British-raised, New York-based director of research and development at Jigsaw, a Google think tank, the aim of which is to build more safety into a world of fear. They are not spies, nor running intelligence services – their broad skill sets are also enigmatic ones – but they are among the key people keeping us safe today.
And, on the flip side, in the past few years a new group of women has come to prominence as some of the keenest minds in counter-extremism. We hardly need reminding how Shamima Begum – the British-born schoolgirl who left the UK aged 15 to join Isil in Syria – dominated headlines in spring. If the concept of “terror” – both its perpetuation and prevention – continues to live in the popular imagination as a largely male battleground, the time to readdress that is now.
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