12 June 2024
Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses (CTTA) – Volume 16 Issue 03
The Evolving Threats of Far-right Extremism and Emerging Technologies
Though far-right extremism remains a more potent threat in the West, its ideological variants have reverberated in other parts of the world as well. At the same time, terrorist groups’ use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 3-D printed weapons, largely popular with the Western far-right, have added another layer of complexity to terrorism’s landscape. With the passage of time, emerging technologies’ accessibility and affordability will have a profound impact on far-right extremism. Likewise, the upcoming presidential election in the United States (US) and parliamentary polls in different European countries will also reshape the far-right threat.
From a policy standpoint, appreciating the diversity and nuances within the Western far-right groups and ideologies is also crucial for developing counter strategies. While terms like far-right, extreme-right and right-wing are used loosely and interchangeably in the media, they are qualitatively different from each other despite their fluidity and existence on the same ideological spectrum. For instance, there are 26 different definitions of far-right extremism and they share five common characteristics, i.e., racism, nationalism, xenophobia, anti-democracy and desire for a strong government.
To put the emerging threats of the far-right extremism and technologies in perspective, the current issue has included five articles looking at far-right and extreme-right threats in Australia, the use of AI and 3-D printed weapons by these groups as well as the potential impact of various elections in the West in 2024 on the far-right threat.
The first article by Kristy Campion surveys the current landscape of the Australian extreme right, spanning the milieus of the ethnocentric, religious, anti-government and idiosyncratic extreme right. Key trends in the country’s threatscape are also discussed, including the nexus between online extremism and youth radicalisation, and the potential for critical infrastructure to be targeted by extreme right-wing actors driven by accelerationist ideologies and strategies. The author concludes by emphasising how the unpredictable and transnational nature of the Australian extreme right lends to its continued lethality to the general public more broadly and to law enforcement specifically.
Next, Josh Roose explores some approaches to address right-wing extremism in Australia. While counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies are more established when it comes to jihadist or Islamist violence, the literature and practice are thinner in respect to the extreme right. The article, based on the Australian context and drawing from the extreme right trends there, offers some insights into how the extreme right narratives and terrorist threats there have evolved, their diverse and diffused nature, and the challenges in countering it. In particular, the author offers some insights on how the role of masculinities, or the problem of “angry men,” which is true for other ideologies too but especially pertinent to the extreme right, can be understood and addressed.
The third article by William Allchorn explores how Western far-right groups have reacted to, discussed and employed generative AI. Drawing on the author’s Telegram-focused study of 12 violent and non-violent far-right groups in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, the article asserts that while public chatter indicates tentative inroads into and negative appraisals of AI, these groups still hold aspirations to weaponise the technology for propaganda and attack planning. The author then considers how the study’s findings can inform practitioners and policymakers in developing Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) interventions to address the misuse and abuse of AI by far-right groups.
In the fourth piece, Rueben Dass looks at 3D-printed firearms and their use by far-right groups. The author analyses terrorist trends and use of the technology using the Global 3D-Printed Firearm database that he has developed. The article discusses the evolution and present nature of the threat before delving into the technology’s usage in terms of ideology, regions and perpetrator types. The article also provides a few cases studies to show how the technology is developed and used by a few groups. Based on the trends and observations, some strategies on how the abuse of the technology could be minimised and the challenges that come with these approaches are also discussed.
Lastly, Kalicharan Veera Singam assesses the potential impact of the upcoming US presidential and European Union (EU) parliamentary elections on the extreme right threat in the West. The projected gains expected by right-wing political movements in both polls have in turn raised concerns of a further emboldening of the violent extreme right. In the US, an increasingly polarised political environment has heightened prospects for unrest, especially if Donald Trump fails in his re-election bid. Similar concerns pervade the far-right’s capture of political power in parts of Europe in recent years and expected advances in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections.
HTML Article Versions
Kalicharan Veera Singam – 2024 Elections in the West: Are They Helping the Extreme Right?
The Evolving Threats of Far-right Extremism and Emerging Technologies
Though far-right extremism remains a more potent threat in the West, its ideological variants have reverberated in other parts of the world as well. At the same time, terrorist groups’ use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 3-D printed weapons, largely popular with the Western far-right, have added another layer of complexity to terrorism’s landscape. With the passage of time, emerging technologies’ accessibility and affordability will have a profound impact on far-right extremism. Likewise, the upcoming presidential election in the United States (US) and parliamentary polls in different European countries will also reshape the far-right threat.
From a policy standpoint, appreciating the diversity and nuances within the Western far-right groups and ideologies is also crucial for developing counter strategies. While terms like far-right, extreme-right and right-wing are used loosely and interchangeably in the media, they are qualitatively different from each other despite their fluidity and existence on the same ideological spectrum. For instance, there are 26 different definitions of far-right extremism and they share five common characteristics, i.e., racism, nationalism, xenophobia, anti-democracy and desire for a strong government.
To put the emerging threats of the far-right extremism and technologies in perspective, the current issue has included five articles looking at far-right and extreme-right threats in Australia, the use of AI and 3-D printed weapons by these groups as well as the potential impact of various elections in the West in 2024 on the far-right threat.
The first article by Kristy Campion surveys the current landscape of the Australian extreme right, spanning the milieus of the ethnocentric, religious, anti-government and idiosyncratic extreme right. Key trends in the country’s threatscape are also discussed, including the nexus between online extremism and youth radicalisation, and the potential for critical infrastructure to be targeted by extreme right-wing actors driven by accelerationist ideologies and strategies. The author concludes by emphasising how the unpredictable and transnational nature of the Australian extreme right lends to its continued lethality to the general public more broadly and to law enforcement specifically.
Next, Josh Roose explores some approaches to address right-wing extremism in Australia. While counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies are more established when it comes to jihadist or Islamist violence, the literature and practice are thinner in respect to the extreme right. The article, based on the Australian context and drawing from the extreme right trends there, offers some insights into how the extreme right narratives and terrorist threats there have evolved, their diverse and diffused nature, and the challenges in countering it. In particular, the author offers some insights on how the role of masculinities, or the problem of “angry men,” which is true for other ideologies too but especially pertinent to the extreme right, can be understood and addressed.
The third article by William Allchorn explores how Western far-right groups have reacted to, discussed and employed generative AI. Drawing on the author’s Telegram-focused study of 12 violent and non-violent far-right groups in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, the article asserts that while public chatter indicates tentative inroads into and negative appraisals of AI, these groups still hold aspirations to weaponise the technology for propaganda and attack planning. The author then considers how the study’s findings can inform practitioners and policymakers in developing Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) interventions to address the misuse and abuse of AI by far-right groups.
In the fourth piece, Rueben Dass looks at 3D-printed firearms and their use by far-right groups. The author analyses terrorist trends and use of the technology using the Global 3D-Printed Firearm database that he has developed. The article discusses the evolution and present nature of the threat before delving into the technology’s usage in terms of ideology, regions and perpetrator types. The article also provides a few cases studies to show how the technology is developed and used by a few groups. Based on the trends and observations, some strategies on how the abuse of the technology could be minimised and the challenges that come with these approaches are also discussed.
Lastly, Kalicharan Veera Singam assesses the potential impact of the upcoming US presidential and European Union (EU) parliamentary elections on the extreme right threat in the West. The projected gains expected by right-wing political movements in both polls have in turn raised concerns of a further emboldening of the violent extreme right. In the US, an increasingly polarised political environment has heightened prospects for unrest, especially if Donald Trump fails in his re-election bid. Similar concerns pervade the far-right’s capture of political power in parts of Europe in recent years and expected advances in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections.
HTML Article Versions
Kalicharan Veera Singam – 2024 Elections in the West: Are They Helping the Extreme Right?
