ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a few brief responses in light of the complex findings from seven countries in the Western Balkans and MENA, by addressing the cumulative roots and patterns of violent extremism and the multi-agency factors of resilience, and problematising the concept of resilience at the interface of state, religious, and civil society spheres. The case of Serbia brings to the fore a temporal perspective on the vulnerability/resilience nexus across the state/non-state divide. Religious institutions can hence play a positive role in strengthening resilience and peacebuilding – although not uniformly across the seven countries under study, given the differentiated relations they entertain with the state. The concept of resilience needs to be treated with caution, as it takes various meanings and connotations from one language/culture and political system to another. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
