Extreme-Right Violence and Terrorism: Concepts, Patterns, and Responses

In this paper, Tore Bjørgo and Jacob Aasland Ravndal attempt to conceptualise the extreme-right, in the context of its tendency to be overshadowed by the larger-scale, higher-casualty, Jihadism. As a result of this international and scholarly focus on Jihadist terrorism, the authors note the consequent deficit in research on the topic of violence and extremism from the extreme right—in particular, on target selection, perpetrators, patterns of action, and facilitating conditions. In an effort to begin to fill this gap, and thus improve practitioners’ ability to deal with the threat, the authors bring into focus the distinctions between extreme-right violence and Jihadism. This Policy Brief concludes with recommendations on how relevant authorities can and should respond to this distinct form of political violence.