The ICCT Podcast

“Anti-Institutional Extremism: Causes and Responses” is an ICCT podcast series that explores forms of extremism that oppose the government and the perceived oppression from a globalised elite, often fueled by conspiracy narratives and disinformation. This series analyses what anti-institutional extremism looks like in North America and Europe today, and how it can be addressed and countered — through conversations with practitioners, academics, and policy-makers.

In this fifth and last episode, we speak to Ian Moss, Deputy Coordinator for the Bureau of Counterterrorism at the US State Department, overseeing Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorist Detentions. Mr Moss describes the threat landscape today and how anti-institutional extremism fits into this. He expands on violent extremism motivated by racial and ethnic issues (REMVE), by the loss of faith in government and key institutions such as health. He analyses how the U.S. is trying to counter anti-institutional extremism and how it could work with its European partners to address it better.

“Anti-Institutional Extremism: Causes and Responses” is an ICCT podcast series that explores forms of extremism that oppose the government and the perceived oppression from a globalised elite, often fueled by conspiracy narratives and disinformation. This series analyses what anti-institutional extremism looks like in North America and Europe today, and how it can be addressed and countered — through conversations with practitioners, academics, and policy-makers.

In this fourth episode, we speak to Erik Akerboom, Director General of the Dutch domestic intelligence service, the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), since May 2020.

Mr Akerboom seeks to provide a definition of anti-institutional extremism from the AIVD perspective, to explain the unique challenges for national intelligence services to counter this type of extremism and to analyse the potential legal implications. He also dives into an extensive and public report recently published by AIVD on anti-institutional extremism in the Netherlands.  

“Anti-Institutional Extremism: Causes and Responses” is an ICCT podcast series that explores forms of extremism that oppose the government and the perceived oppression from a globalised elite, often fueled by conspiracy narratives and disinformation. This series analyses what anti-institutional extremism looks like in North America and Europe today, and how it can be addressed and countered — through conversations with practitioners, academics, and policy-makers. In this third episode, we speak to Julia Ebner, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University’s Calleva Centre of Evolution and Human Sciences, and Jelle van Buuren, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, Institute of Security and Global Affairs.  

Julia and Jelle discuss what anti-institutional extremism looks like in Europe today and what the key differences are between countries and regions. They also analyse how this movement has evolved, what its key issues are today, and how extremists in Europe are being affected by developments in the US or in Russia.  

“Anti-Institutional Extremism: Causes and Responses” is an ICCT podcast series that explores forms of extremism that oppose the government and the perceived oppression from a globalised elite, often fueled by conspiracy narratives and disinformation. This series analyses what anti-institutional extremism looks like in North America and Europe today, and how it can be addressed and countered — through conversations with practitioners, academics, and policy-makers.

In this second episode, we speak to Martha Crenshaw, senior fellow emerita at The Center for International Security and Cooperation (C-SAC) and Freedman Spogli Institute, and a professor of political science by courtesy at Stanford, and Arie Perlinger, Professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.  

Martha and Arie focus on specific examples of anti-institutional extremism in North America. They also consider who is involved in anti-institutional extremism, what their ideological basis is,  how and why the phenomenon is evolving,  and how these actors are linked across the US and with actors/movements in Europe. 

“Anti-Institutional Extremism: Causes and Responses” is an ICCT podcast series that explores forms of extremism that oppose the government and the perceived oppression from a globalised elite, often fueled by conspiracy narratives and disinformation. This series analyses what anti-institutional extremism looks like in North America and Europe today, and how it can be addressed and countered — through conversations with practitioners, academics, and policy-makers.

In the first episode, we speak to Tore Bjørgo, Director of the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, and Bàrbara Molas, Researcher of Current and Emerging Threats at ICCT.  

Tore and Bàrbara seek to provide a definition of what anti-institutional extremism is and what it is not. They also discuss who is involved in anti-institutional extremism, if these actors are uniform in their approach, and how the phenomenon has evolved. They also discuss the concerns around labelling this movement, and where to draw the line between legal protests and actions that require a response.