By United States. Government Accountability Office

From the document: "Domestic terrorism investigations have more than doubled since 2020, according to the FBI. FBI and DHS are the main federal entities charged with preventing terrorist attacks in the U.S. FBI has lead responsibility for federal domestic terrorism investigations and domestic intelligence efforts. DHS is responsible for producing terrorist threat information in coordination with federal, state and local government agencies, and private entities. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review domestic terrorism threats, incidents, and related federal cases and charges. This report addresses, among other objectives, the extent to which the FBI and DHS I&A [Office of Intelligence and Analysis] (1) track domestic terrorism investigations and incidents, and (2) followed leading collaboration practices in their efforts to counter domestic terrorism threats."

United States. Government Accountability Office. Report Number .GAO-23-104720. 2023.

By Tapia, Daniel; Warren, Kristin; Burns, Jacqueline Gardner; Holynska, Khrystyna; Reimer, Jordan R.

From the document: "Racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism is becoming an increasingly common occurrence in the United States. Racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist (REMVE)-related terrorism has consequences beyond loss of life: It undermines the sense of safety that targeted groups feel in their country and unravels the social fabrics of trust that are necessary for society to function. Further still, REMVE attacks can motivate other like-minded attackers to follow up with their own attacks, as was apparently the case with the May 14, 2022, mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, by a self-avowed, internet-radicalized white supremacist whose manifesto drew heavily from the March 15, 2019, Christchurch mosque mass shootings, which also inspired a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Two key challenges for those who observe online spaces in which radicalization occurs are the sheer volume of data and the idiosyncrasies of online communities. Website-specific language and memes are difficult to track and parse; even if emerging terms are detected, defining them can be difficult."

Rand Corp. 2023. 102p.

By Macdonald, Stuart Keith, 1979-; Staniforth, Andrew

From the Executive Summary: "Cooperation between law enforcement and tech companies is widely regarded as necessary to tackle online terrorist content. Both sectors have publicly stated their commitment to working together and there are examples of mutual cooperation. Yet there are also impediments to such collaboration, including different cultures and operating practices, and there have been high-profile instances of non-cooperation. The informality of existing collaborations has also led to concerns about censorship, mission creep and a lack of accountability and oversight. The focus of this report is on how to resolve the impediments to closer cooperation between law enforcement and the tech sector in order to realise the benefits of mutual collaboration, while simultaneously addressing concerns about due process and accountability. The report utilises an interview-based methodology to examine the experiences and opinions of personnel from both sectors who have first-hand experience of mutual cooperation. It provides empirically grounded insights into this under-researched topic."

Global Network On Extremism And Technology (Gnet). 2023. 38P.

Edited by Miriam Gani and Penelope Mathew

On 20 September 2001, in an address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American people, President George W Bush declared a ‘war on terror’. The concept of the ‘war on terror’ has proven to be both an attractive and a potent rhetorical device. It has been adopted and elaborated upon by political leaders around the world, particularly in the context of military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. But use of the rhetoric has not been confined to the military context. The ‘war on terror’ is a domestic one, also, and the phrase has been used to account for broad criminal legislation, sweeping agency powers and potential human rights abuses throughout much of the world. This collection seeks both to draw on and to engage critically with the metaphor of war in the context of terrorism. It brings together a group of experts from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany who write about terrorism from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including international law and international relations, public and constitutional law, criminal law and criminology, legal theory, and psychology and law.

Canberra: ANU Press,  2008. 440p.

By Institute for Economics & Peace

From the Executive Summary: "This is the third edition of the Ecological Threat Report (ETR), which analyses ecological threats in 228 independent states and territories. Produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the report covers over 3,638 sub-national administrative districts, or 99.99 per cent of the world's population, assessing threats relating to 'food risk, water risk, rapid population growth and natural disasters'. Many ecological threats exist independently of climate change. However, climate change will have an amplifying effect, causing further ecological degradation. The research takes a multi-faceted, multidimensional approach by analysing risk at the national, administrative district and city level, while also assessing these entities by ecological threats, societal resilience and levels of peace. Additionally, the research provides projections to 2050. To assist the international community in prioritising its focus, IEP has identified the countries, administrative districts and cities most at risk."

Institute for Economics & Peace. 2022. 81p.

By: Goodman, Ryan, Kim, Sang-Min; Steinman, Jon; Ford, William

"For the first time in American history, a sitting president of the United States sought to overturn the results of a presidential election and block the peaceful transfer of power to his rightful successor. Former President Donald Trump waged this campaign for months, spreading baseless claims about widespread election fraud and pursuing an array of schemes at the local, state, and federal levels in an effort to reverse the 2020 electoral outcome. This multifaceted campaign--which culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol--has chipped away at many Americans' faith in our democratic processes, emboldened extremists who threaten violence to secure their political preferences, and left a blueprint for future efforts to subvert elections. This crisis is made worse by shortcomings in an array of federal laws, which leave key government institutions vulnerable, and provide legal loopholes that can be exploited by actors looking to subvert the will of the American people. In June 2021, the House of Representatives created the January 6 Select Committee to investigate the events surrounding the attack on the Capitol including their causes. This Guide presents an overview of the Select Committee's findings to date, revealed to the public in a series of hearings that allege President Trump and his associates engaged in a seven-part conspiracy to hold onto power. This Guide covers the numerous threats to American democracy that have emerged, responsive reforms under consideration by policymakers, and how Americans can learn more about these events and possible paths forward toward a more resilient democracy in the future."

Just Security. September 2022. 43p.

By Suzi Mirgani

This ground-breaking book explores the points of convergence between corporate capitalism and terrorist practice. Assessing the increase in the number of terrorist attacks directed against commercial entities in urban areas, such as the Westgate mall in Nairobi or the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, Suzi Mirgani offers a fascinating and disturbing perspective on the spaces where supposedly oppositional ends of the spectrum meet on common ground. How is it that these urban commercial spaces provide ground zero for a conference between the most powerful forces of contemporary culture: the most mainstream and the most extreme?

Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag. 2016. 199p.

United States. Congress. House. Committee On Veterans' Affairs

From the Hearing Overview: "Having established why DVE [Domestic Violence Extremist] groups target veterans in their recruitment efforts during the October 2021 hearing, the Committee's March 31, 2022, hearing, entitled 'Helping Veterans Thrive: The Importance of Peer Support in Preventing Domestic Violent Extremism,' turned to the veterans' side of the story. The hearing had two main objectives: 1. To further examine some of the risk factors that place a small but growing number of military veterans at risk of radicalization and recruitment by DVE groups; and 2. To identify and evaluate various civil society efforts to combat domestic violent extremism. [...] As a result of the hearing, the Committee identified two main findings: 1. There is no single pathway toward radicalization, but there are certain risk factors that veterans who engage in violent extremism often share[; and] 2. Peer support, including support from other veterans, military families, and Veterans Service Organizations, is vital to countering the threat of domestic violent extremism."

United States. Congress. House. Committee On Veterans' Affairs . 2022. 21p.

By Pijpers, Peter B.M.J.

From the Summary: "The Russian invasion of Ukraine, while primarily a kinetic war, saw new actors and novel activities exploiting cyberspace. Numerous non-state actors, hacker groups and commercial enterprises have entered the virtual battlespace, taking sides with one of the warring states without necessarily being belligerent entities. While states were already struggling with how to regulate activities in cyberspace, the new tropes, techniques and tactics have increased legal uncertainty. International law is based on the state, a territory, and the distinction between war and peace, while cyberspace and the activities conducted therein are not. The Russo-Ukraine war has made it clear that non-state actors such as Microsoft or Anonymous cannot be attributed to a state, and that they do not participate directly in hostilities, at least not physically. Moreover, the attributes of cyberspace have not only blurred the differences between state and non-state actors, but also transformed the dichotomy between war and peace. Not only do the challenges of how to apply international law to the new tropes, techniques and tactics in cyberspace increase differences in interpretation, but the ensuing uncertainties can be exploited, causing legal asymmetry."

European Centre Of Excellence For Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid Coe) . 2002. 20p.

By Ravich, Samantha Fay; Fixler, Annie

From the Introduction: "In 2018, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) published a series of monographs analyzing cyber-enabled economic warfare (CEEW) as practiced by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. The four studies brought together for the first time an assessment of each adversary's CEEW attacks on America's economic infrastructure. At the time, the term CEEW was only beginning to seep into the consciousness of the U.S. national security community. The White House had used the term in its 2017 National Security Strategy, noting how adversaries are using technology to 'weaken our businesses and our economy.'1 But the connection between such malicious activities and the overall strategies of America's four principal adversaries remained unclear. The risks associated with CEEW are now clearer, thanks less to the rigorous analysis of adversarial intentions than to the increased scale, scope, and frequency of attacks across the American economic landscape. Still, the federal government has a blind spot that leaves the United States vulnerable to a catastrophic strategic surprise -- one that could simultaneously destabilize the U.S. electrical grid, water supply, banking system, transportation sector, or other critical infrastructure necessary for survival. That blind spot is intelligence that anticipates the adversary's strategy. For too long, the United States has tried to patch its way to safety with the enemy inside its networks."

Foundation For Defense Of Democracies 2022. 68p.

By Carlos Solar

While the effects of militarism and militarization toward security are evident in the Americas, most notably transmitted via images of soldiers complementing and replacing law enforcement agencies at times of social crisis, this report seeks potential answers to what this means in theory and practice. The author does this in two ways. First, it unpacks an up-to-date understanding of militarism and militarization aiming to feed academic and policy debates with a perspective on what citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean think. Second, it expands knowledge of militarism and militarization informing security and defense planners, specifically those preparing tailored policies toward conflict and peace in the region.

Miami: Florida International University, 2021. 27p.

By Unidad de investigación de Venezuela

For twenty years, Venezuela was a refuge for Colombia’s Marxist guerrillas, a place where they could hide out from the military, run criminal economies, and carry out political work with impunity thanks to their friendly relationship with the government of President Hugo Chávez. But today, it is so much more. Guerrillas such as the ELN have spread deep into Venezuelan territory, they are filling their ranks with recruits, taking control of communities, and interfering in politics. Today, they are binational guerrilla groups. The product of five years of fieldwork along the Colombia-Venezuela border and beyond, this investigation reveals the Venezuelan operations of Colombia’s guerrillas and explores the far-reaching implications for both countries of their evolution into Colombo-Venezuelan groups.

Washington, DC: InsightCrime, 2022. 53p.

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By Michael J. Williams; John G. Horgan; William P. Evans

The CVE program examined was initiated by the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE), a community-based Muslim-led organization whose CVE programming focuses on creating and maintaining networks of civically engaged individuals who are sensitized to issues of violent extremism and have proactive, cooperative relationships with local social services and law enforcement agencies… As part of its community education focus WORDE programming addresses the early identification of individuals at risk for violent extremism. One of the highlights of the current evaluation was the development of empirically based recommended practices for both the recruitment and retention of CVE program participants. The evaluation's experimental tests found that fear of damaging one's peer relationships reduced individuals' willingness to intervene when they observe signs of the potential for violent extremism. Evidence-based initiatives are suggested for addressing this fear of peer rejection in training people to act appropriately in recognizing and responding to indications that a person advocates or is motivated to engage in extremist violence. In examining whether WORDE programs are effective, the evaluation found that of all of WORDE's activities, their volunteer-service and multicultural programming had the intended positive effects on 12 of 14 CVE-relevant outcomes. In addition, there were no discernable unintended effects. Thus, the evaluation concludes that WORDE's volunteer-service and multicultural programming is the first evidence-based CVE-relevant programming in the United States. It is worthy of expansion and testing in other municipalities.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2016. 167p.

By Canada. House of Commons. Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security

Ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) is on the rise in Canada and its affects are being experienced throughout Canadian society, including by elected officials…. A number of Canadian influencers and proselytizers have emerged within IMVE movements. These IMVE influencers promote misinformation and action, including violence. It is against this background that, on 10 February 2022, the committee adopted the following motion: That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of the rise of Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism (IMVE) in Canada; … Drawing on evidence heard by the committee, this report describes what is meant by IMVE, examines the targets of IMVE attacks, recent IMVE trends, Canada’s current response to IMVE threats, and presents the committee’s findings and recommendations to tackle this important issue. The committee recognizes that several areas aimed at combatting IMVE are matters of shared jurisdiction and that collaboration between all levels of government and civil society is required to address this issue.

Ottawa: House of Commons, 2022. 54p.

By Public Safety Canada

Canada faces the threat of violence by a small number of individuals who have become radicalized for political, religious or other ideological reasons. The Government of Canada is concerned with all forms of violent extremism, not associating this phenomenon with any particular religious, political, national, ethnic, or cultural group. While Canada has faced a variety of threats stemming from violent extremism in recent decades, the main terrorist threat to Canada continues to be violent extremists inspired by terrorist groups such as Daesh and al-Qaeda. However, individuals espousing and engaging in violence can be inspired by any extremist group promoting such behaviour. For example, some individuals within the far-right movement have espoused, glorified, promoted, and even engaged in violence. As well, historically, some far-left extremists have taken part in violent acts such as pipeline bombings. The Government of Canada is also alerted to the dangers of lesser-known forms of violent extremism. In its ongoing efforts to keep Canadians safe, the Government of Canada is expanding how it responds to violent extremism. Specifically, the federal government is investing in the prevention of radicalization to violence as articulated through the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence. Prevention aims to thwart violent radicalization from happening in the first place and to intervene as early as possible when it is occurring. Preventing and countering violent extremism is an effective complement to security agencies’ traditional methods of safeguarding national security.

Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2018. 46p.

By Michele St-Amant, David Jones, Michael King, and John McCoy

There have been significant changes in the three years since the Organization for the Prevention of Violence (OPV) published its first report about hatemotivated violence, extremism and terrorism in Alberta, Building Awareness, Seeking Solutions. The Covid-19 pandemic, protests against public health measures, tense elections in the United States, and the backlash to racial justice movements, among other events, have had broad social repercussions. Some of which have changed the composition and scale of the threat of extremism and terrorism – which has become more diffuse and comprised of a broader set of grievances and ideologies. This report is organized using the nomenclature developed by the Government of Canada to categorize different forms of extremist ideologies. As such, the findings related to ideologically motivated violent extremism and religiously motivated violent extremism are summarized first.i Next, we summarize our findings about conspiracy theories and hate incidents, including crimes, within Alberta and across Canada.

Edmonton, Alberta: Organization for the Prevention of Violence, 2022. 115p.

By Daniel Koehler

This book is the first comprehensive academic study of German right-wing terrorism since the early 1960s available in the English language. It offers a unique in-depth analysis of German violent, extremist right-wing movements, terrorist events, groups, networks and individuals. In addition, the book discusses the so-called ‘National Socialist Underground’ (NSU) terror cell, which was uncovered in late 2011 by the authorities. The NSU had been active for over a decade and had killed at least ten people, as well as executing numerous bombings and bank robberies. With an examination of the group’s support network and the reasons behind the failure of the German authorities, this book sheds light on right-wing terrorist group structures, tactics and target groups in Germany. The book also contains a complete list of all the German right-wing terrorist groups and incidents since the Second World War. Based on the most detailed dataset of right-wing terrorism in Germany, this book offers highly valuable insights into this specific form of political violence and terrorism, which has been widely neglected in international terrorism research.

London: Routledge, 2017. 288p.

By Noam Chomsky

Preface to the 2015 Edition As noted in the original preface, this book was originally intended as a postscript to my book Turning the Tide, but it took on a life of its own. Rereading this book is not easy. I like to think that I’ve been able to live without too many illusions about the nature of policy and the ways the intellectual classes conform to state doctrine, no matter how ludicrous it is. But it is a constant shock to be reminded of the record. The basic facts were very clear at the time of writing, and by now have been verified beyond serious dispute. In brief, the Reagan administration came into office declaring that a primary focus of policy would be state-directed international terrorism, “the plague of the modern age,” “a return to barbarism in our time,” in the fevered rhetoric of Shultz, Reagan, and the rest. They proceeded at once to launch murderous terrorist wars in Central America, while supporting terrorism throughout much of the world. Perhaps the most notorious case is Southern Africa, where Reagan was the last significant political figure to support the Apartheid regime and to deny its atrocious crimes, and continued to support the brutal terrorist forces in Angola even after their South African backers had withdrawn their support. The same was true in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but nothing compared with their vicious atrocities in Central America, the primary focus of this book.

London: Pluto Press, 2015. 304p.

By M.R. Haberfeld, Joseph F. King and Charles A. Lieberman

The introductory chapter of this book presents the concepts of the benefits inherent in the study of comparative approach for an effective counterterrorism response on the local law enforcement level and overviews the inception of the project. Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, especially after the events of September 11, 2001, the legitimacy of law enforcement practices has been cited as a major concern for international criminal justice. As policing practitioners and scholars throughout the world shifted focus from a traditional reactive, crime control stance to the need for accountability mechanisms to ensure the s- port of citizenry in combating crime and terrorism, the democratization of policing was seen as the best mechanism for achieving long-term gains in public order at the same time as protecting human rights. While the need to maintain human rights remains an important issue, balancing these concerns with the important public safety interests of societies is paramount.

Cham: Springer, 2009. 190p.

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By Ramon Spaaij

What drives the lone wolf terrorist to commit mass violence? What are their ideologies and motivations? How do they plan and carry out their attacks, and who do they target? How can lone wolf terrorism be effectively countered? One of the first in-depth analyses of lone wolf terrorism, this publication sets out to answer these questions. Drawing on extensive international data and qualitative case studies, it examines the global patterns in and key features of lone wolf terrorism over the past four decades. This engaging text will be essential reading for students and researchers on terrorism and violent conflict and offers unique and invaluable insights to those working to prevent or minimize the effects of terrorism and political violence.

Cham: Springer, 2012. 124p.