Mubin Shaikh was “bit by the jihadi bug” when he was 19. Born and raised in Canada, he traveled to Pakistan to study Islam — and there found himself captivated by a group of extremists who encouraged him to embrace a violent and skewed interpretation of the religion. In his talk, Shaikh shares the story of how he was deradicalized, and eventually became an undercover counterterrorism operative for the CIA.

TEDArchive presents previously unpublished talks from TED conferences.
Enjoy this unedited talk by Mubin Shaikh.
Filmed at TEDWomen in 2015