Right Wing Extremism

Introduction: Right-wing (RWX) and left-wing extremists (LWX) constitute ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE), a term used to describe what was previously known as “domestic terrorism”. Of most concern has been the rise of RWX. In 2021, for the first time, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) declared that RWX constituted fifty percent of its priority caseload. The United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee reported a 320 percent increase in RWX globally from 2016 to 2021. Methods: A review of the gray and published literature was undertaken to determine the underlying causes of this rise in RWX. Results: Across the Anglosphere, in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, transnational trends are fuelling individual grievances and resentments, funneling people into RWX movements. There are several reasons why RWE has increased. Since the 1980s, most countries have experienced rising inequalities in wealth. Globalization and the accompanying rise in inequality are key structural elements driving RWX. Global inequality also feeds into extreme-right conspiracy theories about a corrupt global cabal that wants to create a ‘New World Order’ – a far-right conspiracy theory which claims that a powerful but secret global elite aims to take over the world and establish a global dictatorship. Disinformation and misinformation are so rife that specialists had to come up with a new field of study – infodemiology. Ecofascism. Eco-fascists blame the ‘capitalist class’ and corporate elites for the degradation of the environment. Perceived threat to identity defined by ethnic, racial, or national status. Global migration and COVID-19 are amplifiers of RWX Conclusion: There is no doubt that the world has undergone profound stress and upheaval this century: environmental crisis, a global financial crisis, and a global pandemic. In periods of social, political, and economic uncertainty, extremism can grow, and the disaffected can be recruited into these movements.