In the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, the threat posed by military personnel in radical right groups quickly became apparent to policy makers and military leaders worldwide before being eclipsed by the event of September 11 and the resultant ‘Global War on Terror.’ While this phenomenon has attracted little scholarly attention, with the… Continue reading “An Overview of the German Military Counterintelligence Service Report on Extremism Within the German Federal Defence Force”
In late February, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, laid an order in Parliament to make membership of two extreme right-wing groups illegal in the U.K.. Proscription renders membership of a group illegal in the U.K. and anyone found to be a member of or offering support to the groups could now face up to ten… Continue reading “What does the proscription of the Sonnenkrieg Division and the System Resistance Network mean for efforts to counter the Radical Right?”
A new approach to countering the extremism of the radical right is desperately needed. This month, the Commission for Countering Extremism published the findings from its public consultation. Seeking to better understand what extremism is, how it finds form, and most importantly what can be done about it, the commission visited more than 20 towns and… Continue reading “Hateful extremism and the radical right: we need new definitions”
The far right recognizes the value, both in training and in terms of access to arms and equipment, that active and former soldiers bring to its organizations. In early October 2018, a photo emerged that showed former leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) posing with a group of Army Cadets.… Continue reading “The Far Right Has a History of Infiltrating the British Army”
Back in November 2018, restrictions on reporting on five people convicted of belonging to the banned National Action, a violent radical right movement, were lifted. Among them were Mikko Vehvilainen, a Finnish-born veteran of Afghanistan still serving in the British Army at the time of his arrest, and Alexander Deakin, the unemployed Midlands organiser of… Continue reading “On Cupboards”
The recent trial of Oxfordshire-based neo-Nazi couple Adam Thomas and Claudia Patatas, who were both found guilty of being members of the banned terrorist group National Action, has once again plunged the extreme right into the headlines in Britain. Patatas, 38, and Thomas, 22, have become easy targets for tabloid sensationalism. These are fanatics who… Continue reading “The National Action Trial, Nazi Fetishism, and the Neo-folk Conundrum”
“An alleged member of banned neo-Nazi group National Action had an image of murdered MP Jo Cox captioned ‘Chat s**t. Get banged’, a court heard.” Read the full article in The Independent.