The purpose of this essay is to choose a far-right extremist organization from the list below (If anyone is interested, I’ve also included Antifa, a far-left extremist group, since we did not have an assignment for Module 4 where they would have been included). These are specific groups and/or ideologies that have been active in the United States sometime over the last four years. You are tasked with providing background information about the ideology, examples of notable legal and illegal acts committed that are connected to the ideology, and conduct an assessment of the current risk the movement poses to the U.S. citizens and interests. Your risk assessment must stem from fact and a logical argument.
In your first section, you should introduce the terrorist movement/ideology through an explanation of the underlying belief system of those who follow the ideology and its history. In this section, please make a direct case for why you think this group/ideology is (or perhaps is not) far-right based on the Extremist Crime Database’s definition of the far-right:
The far-right is composed of individuals or groups that subscribe to aspects of the following ideals:
fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation);
anti-global;
- suspicious of centralized federal authority;
- reverent of individual liberty (especially their right to own guns, be free of taxes);
- believe in conspiracy theories that involve a grave threat to national sovereignty and/or personal liberty;
- belief that one’s personal and/or national “way of life” is under attack and is either already lost or that the threat is imminent (sometimes such beliefs are amorphous and vague, but for some the threat is from a specific ethnic, racial, or religious group);
- belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in or supporting the need for paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism.
- NOTE: The mainstream conservative movement and the mainstream Christian right are not included.
- Next, write about the more prominent, archetypical legal and illegal acts that occurred in the name of the ideology. Think of this section as the who, what, when, where, and why of the movement’s activities. It’s important to remember that most ideological extremists only engage in legal, constitutionally protected activities. Part of the difficulty in countering extremist groups is trying to determining which individuals and groups will make the leap from legal to illegal activities prior to the illegal acts occurring.
Finally, based on the information you gathered for the first two portions of the essay, argue for the level of risk you believe the movement currently poses against U.S. citizens and our interests. Perhaps you believe they are only a threat in certain areas of the country, will only use certain methods of attack (e.g. arson), or would only be a threat if specific events trigger them (e.g. the passing of legislation antithetical to their ideology).
This assignment should give you practice in how to think about identifying current or future risk presented by extremist ideologies. It is important that your risk assessment flows from a logical argument supported by factual information.
Group/Ideology/Movement: (Pick one of these groups/movements and if there is a specific far-right group you are interested in that is not listed, email me for approval): Boogaloo Bois, Proud Boys, Incels, Alt-Right, QAnon, Oath Keepers, Antifa (far-left).
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