(New York, N.Y / Berlin) – Recent events in the United States, in particular the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 highlighted again the escalating threat by right-wing extremists and terrorists. A new leaderless, transnational, apocalyptic, and violent extreme right-wing movement has emerged in the last few years. It is transnationally linked through narratives such as the “great replacement,” “white genocide,” and “Day X”. Driven by music, violent sport, money, and violence, it is connected through frequent international travel to music and mixed martial art events as well as marches and rallies. These events also provide the movement with finances to sustain its existence and attract new recruits.
Since 2015, violence emanating from this movement has steadily increased and become multi-faceted. Actors within this movement largely see the COVID-19 pandemic as a chance to spread their ideology more widely and to reach a broader recruitment base. This developing threat is increasingly recognized by policymakers and security authorities.
Between July and November 2020, CEP Germany, commissioned by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, analyzed the violent right-wing extremist and terrorist milieus in a range of European countries and the United States, focusing on their developing transnational connections and violent actions.
During this webinar, CEP Germany will present the findings of its report and discuss the current threat landscape and potential responses with Jacob Aasland Ravndal, research fellow at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo. C-REX documents and analyzes right-wing extremist and terrorist movements in Europe and the violence emanating from them.
The full report can be accessed here.
The event will be held in English via Zoom on
Friday, January 22, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. ET / 16:00 CET
The agenda is as follows:
Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director, CEP
Opening remarks and moderation
Simon Herchen, Foreign Office, Federal Republic of Germany
Opening remarks
Kapcer Rekawek, PhD, affiliated researcher at CEP, associated fellow at GLOBSEC
Findings of the CEP report “Violent Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism – Transnational Connectivity, Definitions, Incidents, Structures and Countermeasures”
Jacob Aasland Ravndal, research fellow, Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo
Discussant
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the issues with the speakers following their respective presentations in a Q&A segment. Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues.
If you like to participate in this webinar, please register via the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_b8zzJEmjShSEwQcFSGU5pw