ABSTRACT
Violent fundamentalist insurgency is growing worldwide (Almond et al. 2003; Barber 1995; Brouwer et al. 1996) and right-wing extremists are part of this global phenomenon. Russia, in particular, has experienced a rapid growth of neo-Nazis since the fall of the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, Russia had fewer than 100 neo-Nazi skinheads, but by 2005, more than 50,000 roamed Russia’s streets (Liss 2010; Osborn 2005). Since reunification, Germany has also witnessed a troubling increase in right-wing extremism. A recent study found that one in 20 West German and one in eight former East German male 15 year olds claimed membership in a neo-Nazi faction (Pfeiffer 2009). In the US, the resurgence of right-wing extremist groups has been equally dramatic. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates that hate groups are currently at record levels, with almost 1,000 arrayed across the US:
Anti-immigrant vigilante groups soared by nearly 80%, adding some 136 new groups during 2009. And … so-called ‘Patriot’ groups—militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose ‘one-world government’ on liberty-loving Americans—came roaring back after years out of the limelight.
(Potok 2010) Despite a significant international and national presence of right-wing extremism (RWE), in the post-9/11 era (since the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001), terrorism has become synonymous with Islamic extremism (Vohryzek-Bolden et al. 2001). Narrowly focusing on Islamic fundamentalism, however, neglects the threat posed by other types of extremists and thus has dangerous implications. In particular, right-wing terrorism (RWT) in the US has been neglected, with relatively few studies examining the dynamics influencing episodes of domestic right-wing terrorism (for exceptions see Blee 2005; Smith 1994; Simi and Futrell 2010; Wright 2007; Freilich et al. 2009; Hamm 2001; Blazak 2001; Kaplan 1995; Sprinzak 1995).