The Global Rise of White Supremacist Terrorism

June 10, 2022, 12:00-1:30pm
Online

Join the Brookings Institution for a panel discussion with its Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors exploring the following questions: How large and acute is the threat of the white supremacist movement?  What are the capacities and weaknesses of the movement? What has been the effectiveness of policies adopted to counter it and what else needs to be done?

The white supremacist movement has become a top counterterrorism concern in the United States and in many other countries. White supremacists have conducted numerous high-profile attacks and, compared to jihadist terrorism, white supremacist violence is often more connected to broader political disputes. The overlap with anti-government extremism, the white supremacist role in events like the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, the increasingly globalized nature of the movement, and the often-racist rhetoric of leading political figures reinforce a perception that white supremacists are on the rise. In addition, much of the movement coordinates on social media, exploiting this relatively new technology to recruit and spread propaganda.