COLUMNS

The Right-Wing Extremist Threat in Context: External Extremist Actors

Mar 3, 2020 | 15:54 GMT

'The Turner Diaries,' by National Alliance leader William Pierce, provides a blueprint for conducting terrorist operations as an underground organization.
'The Turner Diaries,' by National Alliance leader William Pierce, provides a blueprint for conducting terrorist operations as an underground organization.

(David S. Holloway/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Due to a long history of law enforcement penetration and disruption, right-wing extremist groups in the United States and Europe adopted the leaderless resistance model of terrorism in the 1980s. 
  • In recent years we have seen right-wing extremists adopt social media strategies pioneered by jihadist groups, particularly the Islamic State.
  • Right-wing extremists remain constrained by the attack cycle and are vulnerable to detection as they progress through that cycle. 
  • Focusing on behaviors associated with the attack cycle can help prevent attacks by right-wing extremists.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak with someone in the process of setting up a protective intelligence program at a large corporation. During our conversation about various concerns and threats, the topic of the current wave of right-wing extremist attacks arose. We discussed how that threat manifested itself differently when the actor was an outsider versus an insider, as well as steps the company could take to protect itself against these threats. After thinking about that conversation for some days, it occurred to me that there might be broader interest in the topic, and that it might be worth writing on it to place the threat posed by right-wing extremism into context. With that in mind, I have decided to address external right-wing extremist actors and insider extremists....

Keep Reading

Register to read three free articles

Proceed to sign up

Register Now

Already have an account?

Sign In