22 November 2021
- RSIS
- Publication
- External Publications
- The White Supremacist Penetration of Western Security Forces: The Wider Implications
The White Supremacist Penetration of Western Security Forces: The Wider Implications
Abstract
This article argues that recent instances of white supremacist penetration of Western security forces should not be regarded as isolated issues. They are related to the worrying wider phenomenon of the gradual societal and political mainstreaming of white supremacist ideas in Western countries. Drawing on the German and US cases as examples, the article unpacks the argument by first examining the core theories of white supremacism: the “great replacement” and “white genocide.” It then explores how these theories have been weaponized, before proceeding to analyze the structure and modalities of the white supremacist threat. The article then considers the wider ideological ecosystems that sustain white supremacist worldviews in Germany (the New Right) and in the United States (the alt-right), before finally outlining four possible approaches to combat the challenge of white supremacism in Western societies.
Abstract
This article argues that recent instances of white supremacist penetration of Western security forces should not be regarded as isolated issues. They are related to the worrying wider phenomenon of the gradual societal and political mainstreaming of white supremacist ideas in Western countries. Drawing on the German and US cases as examples, the article unpacks the argument by first examining the core theories of white supremacism: the “great replacement” and “white genocide.” It then explores how these theories have been weaponized, before proceeding to analyze the structure and modalities of the white supremacist threat. The article then considers the wider ideological ecosystems that sustain white supremacist worldviews in Germany (the New Right) and in the United States (the alt-right), before finally outlining four possible approaches to combat the challenge of white supremacism in Western societies.
