Introduction

For many years after 1945, the contemporary Western ‘extreme right’ and related phenomena were not a central concern for academics, politicians and the policy community. However, during the last 20 or so years, a series of developments has significantly raised the extreme right’s profile (for recent surveys of the extreme right see Merkl and Weinberg 2003 and Schain et al. 2002). Five trends highlight why the extreme right has become a growing cause for concern.