International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation

What International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation does

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) is an academic research centre founded in 2008 within the Department of War Studies at King's College London, focused on terrorism, radicalisation, and political violence. Its core outputs are academic publications organised into three streams — Reports (in-depth studies), Features (policy briefs and analytical pieces), and Insights (commentary and interviews) — supplemented by three flagship research programmes: the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), the Repository of Extremist Aligned Documents (READ), and the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) programme. Underlying research methodology combines open-source intelligence, digital ethnography, qualitative analysis, and dataset construction, with researchers drawing on Arabic-language primary sources collected over two decades and unique datasets such as the Child Terrorism Offenders Dataset and thousands of verified internal Islamic State documents. ICSR serves governments, policymakers, international bodies (UN Security Council, OSCE), academics, security and intelligence professionals, and media organisations including the BBC.

ICSR does not charge for its publications; all research outputs are distributed free of charge via its website, briefings, conferences, and media. The revenue model is institutional academic funding — King's College London provides embedded departmental support, and specific programmes are grant-funded (notably XCEPT by UK Aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Atkin Fellowship by the Atkin Foundation). The go-to-market motion is event- and relationship-driven: policy briefings, conference presentations, op-eds in major outlets, and direct engagement with international bodies, rather than a commercial sales motion. In May 2025, ICSR merged with the Centre for Grand Strategy (CGS) to form the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS), which remains within King's College London's Department of War Studies; all existing ICSR workstreams (GNET, READ, XCEPT) continue under CSNS, and the ICSR website has been archived as a repository of prior publications.

Name

International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation

Legal name

International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation

Website

https://icsr.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) is a London-based academic research centre, founded in 2008 within King's College London's Department of War Studies, producing research and datasets on terrorism, radicalisation, and political violence for governments, policymakers, academics, and security professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Security and Policy Research

NAICS

National Security (928110), International Affairs (92812), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Early Warning, Conflict Analysis & Prevention Programs (BPADAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cyber Defense & Information Security (National Security) (BPAIAHAE)

Keywords

• Terrorism research
• Radicalisation studies
• Counterterrorism policy
• Extremism analysis
• Security research

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Academic Funding: As an academic research centre within King's College London's Department of War Studies, ICSR operates with institutional support and funding from King's College London. The centre also receives grant funding from government sources such as UK Aid for specific programmes like XCEPT.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ICSR is an academic research centre, founded in 2008 and embedded within the Department of War Studies at King's College London, that produces policy-oriented research, reports, and analysis on terrorism, radicalisation, and counterterrorism for governments, security professionals, and the wider policy community. In May 2025 it merged with the Centre for Grand Strategy to form the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS). It operates three major research programmes (GNET, READ, and XCEPT) and disseminates findings via Reports, Features, and Insights publications that are freely available online.

Product overview

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) is an academic research centre focused on terrorism studies and political violence. The organisation's primary offering consists of published research outputs—Reports (in-depth academic studies), Features (policy briefs), and Insights (commentary and analysis). These publications cover topics including terrorism offenders, extremist movements, online radicalisation, counter-terrorism strategies, and conflict studies. ICSR also manages several specialist research programmes: the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), which studies the intersection of extremism and digital platforms; the Repository of Extremist Aligned Documents (READ), a research database of extremist materials; and the XCEPT (Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends) research programme. In May 2025, ICSR merged with the Centre for Grand Strategy (CGS) to form the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS) within King's College London's Department of War Studies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS): The successor organization formed by the merger of ICSR and the Centre for Grand Strategy (CGS) in May 2025, based within the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

Products and services

• Reports Long-form policy and research reports on terrorism, radicalisation, and counterterrorism produced by ICSR staff and affiliates for governments, security professionals, and academic readers.

Quantifiable outcome

• First in-depth research into child terrorist activity in England and Wales, with unique dataset published live alongside report
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and notable.

• Centre for Grand Strategy (CGS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025In May 2025, ICSR merged with the Centre for Grand Strategy (CGS) to form the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS). This merger combined the strengths of both renowned research centres to provide integrated thinking on international affairs and national security.
• King's College London (Department of War Studies)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR is based within the Department of War Studies at King's College London. Following the merger with CGS, the resulting Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS) remains within the same department.
• BBCnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR collaborated with the BBC to publish a global survey of jihadist violence, combining ICSR's research expertise with BBC's reach and credibility.
• New America FoundationnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR partnered with the New America Foundation to produce the report 'Talking to the Taliban: Hope over History?', combining research resources and expertise.
• Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST)notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR published the report 'How Telegram Disruption Impacts Jihadist Platform Migration' which was first published by CREST, indicating a collaborative publication relationship.
• VOX-PolnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR co-published the paper 'Research Perspectives on Online Radicalisation: A Literature Review 2006-2016' with VOX-Pol (Violent Online Political Extremism)
• OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe)notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR Director Peter Neumann produced a report on Countering Violent Extremism for the OSCE, and presented findings at OSCE events. The OSCE Chairman released Neumann's report.
• The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT)notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerICSR researchers have contributed to ICCT publications, including analysis on suicide tactics and Islamic State operations published in ICCT's journal.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Chatham House: London-based international affairs think tank covering security, foreign policy, and global governance. While broader in scope than ICSR, Chatham House serves overlapping UK and international policy audiences and frequently engages on counter-terrorism and conflict themes.
• RAND Corporation: Global policy research organisation producing analysis on national security, terrorism, and extremism. RAND operates at much greater scale and broader scope but addresses overlapping audiences in governments and security agencies with comparable counter-terrorism research outputs.
• Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): US-based bipartisan policy research organisation covering national security and foreign policy. CSIS produces analysis on counter-terrorism, extremism, and conflict that addresses the same government and policy-maker segments ICSR serves, albeit at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Henry Jackson Society: UK-based foreign policy and national security think tank producing research and policy recommendations on extremism, counter-terrorism, and security. It operates in the same London policy ecosystem as ICSR with comparable audiences in government, media, and academia.
• International Crisis Group: Global conflict-prevention organisation producing field-based analysis and policy advice on conflicts worldwide. The XCEPT programme and ICSR's conflict-evidence research share Crisis Group's mandate of preventing and resolving deadly conflict through policy engagement.
• Royal United Services Institute (RUSI): UK defence and security think tank producing independent research on national security, extremism, and counter-terrorism. RUSI serves a similar UK government and intelligence-community audience as ICSR, with overlapping subject matter in terrorism, radicalisation, and security policy.
• Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST): UK-based research centre studying security threats including extremism and terrorism. ICSR has co-published reports with CREST (e.g. 'How Telegram Disruption Impacts Jihadist Platform Migration'), indicating overlapping research agendas and a shared UK academic-policy audience.
• International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT): The Hague-based academic centre focused on counter-terrorism research and policy advice. ICSR researchers have contributed to ICCT publications and both serve governments and international bodies on terrorism analysis, making ICCT the closest direct peer in mandate and audience.
• VOX-Pol Network of Excellence: European academic network focused on violent online political extremism. ICSR co-published 'Research Perspectives on Online Radicalisation' with VOX-Pol, reflecting direct overlap in digital extremism research and shared academic-policy stakeholders.

Emerging players

• Tony Blair Institute for Global Change: Policy institute advising governments on strategy, governance, and extremism. While broader in mandate than ICSR, TBI engages on counter-extremism and security policy with overlapping government audiences, particularly in the UK and partner states.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-centre-for-the-study-of-radicalisation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation