IntroductionCombatting Terrorism Center at West Point
In the last few years, and especially since 2007, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of attacks and violent plots originating from individuals and groups who selfidentify with the far-right of American politics. These incidents cause many to wonder whether these are isolated attacks, an increasing trend, part of increasing societal violence, or attributable to some other condition. To date, however, there has been limited systematic documentation and analysis of incidents of American domestic violence.
This study provides a conceptual foundation for understanding different far-right groups and then presents the empirical analysis of violent incidents to identify those perpetrating attacks and their associated trends. Through a comprehensive look at the data, this study addresses three core questions:
(1) What are the main current characteristics of the violence produced by the far right?
(2) What type of far-right groups are more prone than others to engage in violence? How are characteristics of particular far-right groups correlated with their tendency to engage in violence?
(3) What are the social and political factors associated with the level of far-right violence? Are there political or social conditions that foster or discourage violence?
It is important to note that this study concentrates on those individuals and groups who have actually perpetuated violence and is not a comprehensive analysis of the political causes with which some far-right extremists identify. While the ability to hold and appropriately articulate diverse political views is an American strength, extremists committing acts of violence in the name of those causes undermine the freedoms that they purport to espouse.
Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right
Arie Perliger | Director of Terrorism Studies at the Combating Terrorism Center and Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences, US Military Academy at West Point
The views expressed in this report are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Combating Terrorism Center, U.S. Military Academy, Department of Defense or U.S. government.
See also the 2009 DHS study — Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment
"There are three major ideological movements within the American violent far right: a racist/white supremacy movement, an anti-federalist movement and a fundamentalist movement."
ReplyDeleteSo this person has is broken down into 3 main categories...
1 is the neo-nazi/skin-head types who are off the hook deranged...
2 is the "anti-federalist" ie libertarian group
3 fundamentalist religious group or what is termed "Christian Identity" groups perhaps like that church that protests homosexuality at the soldiers funerals...
I think group 2 is the most populated, the other 2 are fringe groups and are immediately identifiable....
Group 2 is more mainstream and probably could even look at Ron Paul as their representative in Congress.... probably charged up by the current 2nd amendment isssues... and even OWS could go in there too:
"Violence derived from the modern anti-federalist movement appeared in full force only
in the early to mid-1990s and is interested in undermining the influence, legitimacy and
effective sovereignty of the federal government and its proxy organizations. The antifederalist rationale is multifaceted, and includes the beliefs that the American political
system and its proxies were hijacked by external forces interested in promoting a “New
World Order” (NWO) in which the United States will be absorbed into the United Nations or another version of global government. They also espouse strong convictions
regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights. Finally, they support civil activism, individual freedoms, and self government. Extremists in the antifederalist movement direct most their violence against the federal government and its proxies in law enforcement."
This group transcends the two traditional political parties... so you could have both Dems and GOPers in this category.... like the OWS people and the NRA/Second Amendment folks... same libertarian horses though of different colors...
Both of these somewhat mainstream bi-partisan factions in this anti-federalist group remain blind/ignorant to the true nature of state currency systems...
rsp,
This guy, Israeli Arie Perliger is obviously a far left nutjob!
ReplyDeleteI can't help wondering how in the hell did he get involved with West Point. (no wonder we ended up with losers like Colin Powell and Gen. Norman Schwartzkoff - allowing Saddam to send a surrogate in surrender and to keep his armed helicopters after Desert Storm - result - thousands of gassed kurds in Northern Iraq)
How could anyone seriously take his obvious efforts to paint, basically, anyone to the right of Bill Clinton a terrorist is telling to say the least, but for the United States Military Institute West Point, the home of Thomas Jonathan Jackson,US Grant, Black Jack Pershing, McArthur, Ike and so many others to be infiltrated by a liberal, marxist wingnut like this guy is absolutely mindboggling !
Skj,
ReplyDeleteHe is drawing attention to violent anti-federalists, the point is not to try to guess the authors political orientation, but rather examine the range of antifederalist activities for the potential to reach violent extremes...
Antifederalists can have either left or right political orientation, and IMO the concept of a state Currency issued by the federal government without debt will not sit well with them.... Rsp