What is the direction of the currency of ideas between peaceable (non-violent) and militant (violent) Islamism? Do the two groups influence each other? Can individuals shift effortlessly from one form of Islamism to another or are we talking about discrete self-contained mindsets which, once allegiances are struck, excommunicate one another as a matter of principle?
There are those who will agree with the last assertion; that violent and non-violent Islamist groups are congealed entities, ideologically opposed to each other. In the context of the UK, this is often cited by those who would like to see more engagement of non-violent Islamists on the grounds that failure to do so is a failure of our pluralist, social democratic principles.
Andy Hull of the IPPR, for instance: