From Brazil to the United States, from Hungary to New Zealand, extremist right-wing ideas and groups pose a serious threat to democratic societies. In this context, the continued support that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, receives from parts of his base, despite the drop in his approval numbers and the turmoil on the US Capitol on January 6, reflects the continuing evolution of a threat global. As New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden later emphasized that a right-wing terrorist killed more than 50 people in two mosques in her country, “there is no doubt that ideas and language of division and hatred have existed for decades, but their form of distribution, the organization’s tools – are new. ”If there is hope to repair these divisions and promote equality, the rule of law, an inclusive civil society and respect for human rights, the United States needs to work with other countries and multilateral organizations to build a coalition to combat growth and democracy. spread of right-wing extremism.
Nearly 20 years after the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent launch of what American leaders have dubbed the “global war on terror”, the world is facing a new threat. Throughout the years 2000 and 2010, as the international community focused on Al Qaeda, Islamic State and other groups that advocated a specific interpretation of Islam to justify their terrorism, right-wing extremism grew worldwide. Social media platforms and chat rooms offered important ways for people to share ideas, connect and learn from each other, regardless of geographic location, facilitating connections that would otherwise be difficult to form.
Although right-wing ideology and groups are not new in many parts of Europe, the growth of immigration from Muslim countries, the increase in the movement of individuals within the European Union and the incorporation of far-right ideas by populist politicians as a response to the increase immigration contributed to an increase of the right in the 2010s. For example, the Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik carried out his brutal and deadly attack in Oslo and Utoya Island in July 2011. In his manifesto, he described the the need to defend Europe from Muslim domination and multiculturalism. In response to the attacks, Norway changed its laws to redefine the requirements for a terrorism conviction, agreed to share fingerprint information from criminal investigations with the United States and the EU to allow other countries to monitor the actions of individuals crossing borders and launched a national strategy against hate speech in 2016. The strategy adopted United Nations recommendations, incorporating international and domestic approaches. Norway’s society-wide approach to dealing with extremism ensures that citizens are actively involved in promoting the country’s values to combat threats.
While Norway was still working on its response, great right-wing terrorism hit the United States. In 2015, Dylann Roof killed nine black people in the historic African Methodist Episcopal Church Emanuel in South Carolina. Similar to Breivik, he believed that whites needed to be protected the dangers of other groups. For Roof, this included Jews, Latinos and blacks. Roof also defended key characteristics of right-wing extremist ideas focused on nostalgia for a historic white past of grandeur to contain the white victimization perceived in the present.
Although the United States’ response to the attack did not result in a national assessment of right-wing extremism like the Breivik attack in Norway, it led to dialogue and initiatives at the local level in South Carolina that pointed out measures that could be taken at the national level as well. national. The 2015 killings forced South Carolina residents, activists, politicians and academics to face the state’s long history of racism and discrimination. Civil rights activists and the University of South Carolina have joined forces to establish the South Carolina Collaborative for Race and Reconciliation, to encourage local communities to tackle racism and state history, building stronger alliances and relationships between racial lines.
The deadly attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, underscored how right-wing extremism continued to grow worldwide. Similar to Breivik, the Christchurch sniper, who mentioned the Norwegian’s name in his own manifesto, made reference to the protection of whites of European descent against immigration, Muslims and other threats he described as “genocide of whites”. The New Zealand government acted quickly after the attack to deal with right-wing extremism. It changed the country’s gun laws to ban the type of semi-automatic weapon used in the attack and demonstrated visible support for the New Zealand Muslim community. New Zealand worked with France and technology companies to find solutions to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content on social media platforms based on the applicable laws of the countries that support the Christchurch Call, as the plan became known, as well as industry standards and international human rights law, including freedom of expression. The attack also led to a national interrogation of the country’s values and the treatment of its diverse communities. In a report released in December 2020, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attack reveals the failure of the country’s security forces to track down the extremist right-wing threat and the hatred, discrimination and ill-treatment that Muslims and other groups have encountered in New Zealand. . The report provides a series of recommendations, including strengthening engagement with these communities and restructuring the security agencies responsible for counterterrorism.
It is not just direct attacks that mark the spread of extreme right ideology. Throughout the 2000s, these ideas were incorporated as they permeated political parties and influenced politicians.
In 2010, Viktor Orban became Prime Minister of Hungary. During his tenure, he expressed anti-refugee and anti-immigration ideas and argued that Europe was being overtaken by other cultures and groups, especially Muslims. Using the power that comes from state control, Orban and his party undermined democracy by changing the laws to place loyal people in the public service, attacking academic institutions, limiting press freedom and promoting the concept of a unique Hungarian national identity. Orban even praised Trump for his “first in America” platform. In response, thousands of Hungarian citizens marched to protest the government, while an Orban spokesman attributed the demonstrations to George Soros. Recently, opposition parties have come together to challenge Orban and his party government in the 2022 elections.
In 2014, Narendra Modi and his right-wing party won a majority in the Indian elections. Prior to his victory, the US government denied Modi a visa because of his suspicion of support and indifference to attacks by extremist Hindu crowds against Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when he was chief minister there. Despite his most recent embrace by the international community, Modi encouraged the most extremist factions in his party and, with allies, brought extremist ideas into the mainstream, promoting the idea of India as a Hindu country, regardless of its great diversity. Politicians from his Bharatiya Janata Party also sought to promote a narrative of Hindu victimization to justify support for anti-democratic measures such as the 2019 Citizenship Amendment, which excludes Muslims from a list of persecuted religious groups from neighboring countries that could be eligible for Indian citizenship. . To challenge Modi and the government’s actions, hundreds of thousands of Indians mobilized to provide counter-narratives to his propaganda and disinformation. The Indian news site AltNews checks political facts, articles and other information, identifying misleading and false reports to inform the public.
The rise of Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency in Brazil in 2018-2019 demonstrated how extremist right-wing ideas continued to emerge. During his campaign, Bolsonaro defended a platform to return Brazil to its former glory through attacks on government institutions and minorities, as well as violence against criminals, activists and opposition parties. Using social media, he managed to increase his support across the country. Bolsonaro also clearly supported Trump and even endorsed Trump during his re-election campaign. As a result of Bolsonaro’s attacks on Brazilian democracy, marginalized groups in Brazil are becoming more involved in politics to reimagine the country’s civil society. Black women in Brazil compete for positions on platforms focused on human rights and dignity, anti-racism and equality
All of these examples show that, instead of treating right-wing extremism as isolated and parochial incidents in certain countries, it is time to recognize it as a global and evolving phenomenon. If the United States and the international community do not quickly mobilize resources to unite against this threat, they could miss an important chance to curb its spread. The actions that individual countries, local governments, journalists and ordinary citizens have taken to combat right-wing extremism in the past decade offer examples of what an international effort can be like.
US President-elect Joe Biden has the opportunity, after the US Capitol rebellion, to organize the international community to deal with right-wing extremism. The Biden administration must work with partner countries to expand the scope and mission of the Global Counterterrorism Forum to deal with right-wing extremism and its different permutations. This will not be easy, since the United States and other countries will have to face prejudices and historical and national traumas involving race, religion and ethnicity, making difficult and strategic choices on how to move forward. But it’s necessary.
The key to fighting right-wing extremism will be to deal with disinformation. Social media, chat rooms and websites (along with algorithms that track an individual’s behavior on the Internet) allow people around the world to build their own reality and reinforce existing beliefs, while making them susceptible to the influence of different groups and individuals. Anti-democratic ideas are able to spread more quickly and reach audiences across national borders. Biden had the right idea when he suggested holding an international conference on democracy to discuss the challenges facing the world. However, such a conference will make little progress if disinformation is not part of the discussion and action plan. This is where an existing network like the Global Counterterrorism Forum, which has experience in facilitating the sharing of ideas, improving international digital literacy and offering a united front, can enter.
As the global population continues to become younger, it is imperative to develop international approaches to address the extremist ideas that make individuals, societies and institutions vulnerable. Between the 2008 economic shocks and those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, young people demand the move from Chile to Hong Kong. As a result, the Biden government must work with the United Nations to better assist these generations through vocal and financial support for organizations that promote an inclusive civil society, democracy and equality. This should help to protect them from being victims of extremism.
Fighting right-wing extremism will not be easy, as many politicians and political parties have incorporated elements of their ideas into their platforms, but democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights worldwide are worth it.