The signs of growing far-right extremism are all around us, and communities across the globe are struggling to understand how so many people are being radicalized and why they are increasingly attracted to violent movements. In this talk, Cynthia Miller-Idriss argues that instead of focusing on the how and why of far-right radicalization, we might seek answers in the physical and virtual spaces where hate is cultivated. She shows how far-right groups are swelling their ranks and developing their cultural, intellectual, and financial capacities in a variety of mainstream settings. She discusses how young people on the margins of our communities are targeted in these settings, and how the path to radicalization is a nuanced process of moving in and out of far-right scenes throughout adolescence and adulthood. The talk reviews definitions, tactics, and underlying ideas of modern far-right extremism through an eye-opening focus on the mainstream places and spaces where today’s far right is engaging and ensnaring young people.
This event is part the new speaker series "Challenges in International Security" hosted by the Centre for International Security.
Guest speaker
Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a professor at the American University in Washington, DC, where she directs the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) in the Center for University Excellence (CUE). She has testified before the U.S. Congress, has briefed the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, and frequently serves as a keynote speaker and expert panelist on trends in white supremacist and far-right extremism to global academic and policy communities. She appears regularly in the media as an expert source and political commentator. Her most recent book is Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right (Princeton University Press, 2020).
Chair
Marina Henke is Professor of International Relations at the Hertie School. She researches and publishes on military interventions, peacekeeping, and European security and defense policy. Before joining the Hertie School, she was an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University, specialising in international relations and at Princeton University where she was a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Henke holds a PhD in Politics and Public Policy from Princeton University, a Double-MS in Development Studies and International Political Economy from Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economics, and a BA in Economics, Politics and Latin American Studies from Sciences Po Paris.
About the "Challenges in International Security" speaker series
The series invites senior scholars, decision-makers and policy experts to discuss critical global security challenges and their potential solutions.
