Ebner - Rage: the Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far Right Extremism

The early twenty-first century has been defined by a rise in Islamist radicalisation and a concurrent rise in far-right extremism. This book explores the interaction between the new far right and Islamist extremists and considers the consequences for the global terror threat. Julia Ebner argues that far-right and Islamist extremist narratives The West is at war with Islam and Muslims are at war with the West complement each other perfectly, making the two extremes rhetorical allies and building a spiralling torrent of hatred: The Rage. By looking at extremist movements both online and offline, she shows how far-right and Islamist extremists have succeeded in penetrating each others echo chambers as a result of their mutually useful messages. Based on first-hand interviews, this book introduces readers to the world of reciprocal radicalisation and the hotbeds of extremism that have developed, with potentially disastrous consequences, in the UK, Europe and the US.

Julia Ebner is a terrorism and extremism researcher based in London. She is Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and Global Fellow at the Project for the Study of the 21st Century. She spent two years working for the worlds first counter-extremism organisation Quilliam, where she led research projects on terrorism prevention for the European Commission and the Kofi Annan Foundation, and gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on far-right extremism. In her role as coordinator of the pan-European network Families Against Terrorism and Extremism (FATE), she carried out radicalisation-prevention projects across Europe and North Africa. On the basis of her research, Julia advises parliamentary working groups, frontline workers and tech firms, speaks at international conferences and delivers workshops in schools and universities. She regularly writes for the Guardian and the Independent , and gives interviews in English, German and French on the BBC, CNN, ZDF, ARD, France24, Al Jazeera, LBC and others.

Julia Ebner shows how Islamist and right-wing extremism are two sides of the same coin. Her analysis is compelling, insightful, and highly readable.

Peter R. Neumann, author of Radicalized

The Rage reads like a novel but unfortunately its story is non-fiction: Islamist hotheads and those on the far-right polarise our societies and the moderates in the middle lose ground to populists who play politics with extremism.

Alex P. Schmid, Editor-in-Chief, Perspectives on Terrorism

An original and highly informative book on one of the core security issues of our time. The Rage demonstrates powerfully how apparently opposite strands of extremism feed so readily off each other and, in doing so, it illuminates the extent of the problems facing us. Essential reading.

Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies, Bradford University and author of Irregular War

An excellent debut: informed, well-researched and thoughtful. Ebner traces the increasingly important interdependency of far-right and Islamist movements, and offers humane, smart ways through the impasse.

Jamie Bartlett, author of Radicals

This book brings alive the causes and consequences of far-right extremism and Islamist radicalism in our midst. These two forms of rising bigotry threaten to tear our societies apart. Ebner exposes them both and powerfully calls on us to defend liberal tolerance. The Rage is an excellent master course for those seeking to understand the growth of fanaticism.

Ed Husain, author of The Islamist

Julia Ebner has written a fine book, approaching the vexing topic of reciprocal radicalisation with admirable ethnographic empathy. Crisply written, The Rage journeys through the leading and often intertwined forms of extremism today: jihadi Islamists and the far-right. The mirroring of these violent narratives is striking, and is revealed here through both eye-opening vignettes and wide-ranging empirical data. Without doubt, The Rage is the most important contribution to this burgeoning subject to date, and surely will be of use to scholars, policy-makers and the wider public alike.

Matthew Feldman, Professor of Contemporary History, Teesside University

Julia Ebner draws on the very latest evidence to deliver important new analysis of two seemingly opposing forms of extremism and their mutually reinforcing worldviews. The perpetrators of most terrorist and violent extremist acts committed in recent years have followed some form of radicalisation process; Ebners book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the circumstances in which such radicalisation can take place.

Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol

There couldnt be a more appropriately timed book than The Rage by Julia Ebner. With an up close and personal view of two sides of the extremist coin, Ebner lays out the nearly identical narratives between the extreme right wing and Islamists who align with Al Qaeda and ISIS. Locked at the hip, these two groups are in a perpetual battle to destroy anyone who gets in the way of their ideology. Both groups use remarkably similar techniques to radicalise recruits, preying upon a need for identity, belonging and purpose. The personal narrative breathes life into the voices of those who believe they are on a just cause even as that cause ends in terror for others. The Rage is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the interconnected nature of extremism.

Chris Sampson, co-author of Hacking ISIS

To Hilde ,
my great-grandmother, who has always been a source of inspiration and strength

&

In memory of Jo Cox,
who fought for breaking the vicious circle

Published in 2017 by

I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

London New York

www.ibtauris.com

Copyright 2017 Julia Ebner

The right of Julia Ebner to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

ISBN: 978 1 78831 032 1

eISBN: 978 1 78672 289 8

ePDF: 978 1 78673 289 7

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

Abbreviations

AfD

Alternative fr Deutschland

Alt-Right

Alternative Right

BNP

British National Party

CIA

Central Intelligence Agency

DGSE

General Directorate for External Security

DGSI

General Directorate for Internal Security

EDL

English Defence League

EU

European Union

FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FP

Freedom Party of Austria

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GTD

Global Terrorism Database

Hogesa

Hooligans Against Salafists

IIE

Institute of Islamic Education

ISIS

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (alternatively ISIL, IS or Daesh)

KKK

Ku Klux Klan

KRG

Kurdistan Regional Government

LIFG

Libyan Islamic Fighting Group

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PEGIDA

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West

RUSI

Royal United Services Institute