Much of the effort to address far-right extremism in this country has gone toward identifying and preempting violent plots. Too little is being done either to de-radicalize right-wing lunacy that is now “post-organizational” and “characterized by fluid online boundaries and a breakdown of formal groups and movement” and or to head off radicalization.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss of American University’s Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) writes at The Atlantic:
To fight this amorphous kind of radicalization, the federal government needs to see the problem as a whole-of-society, public-health issue. It needs to, for example, beef up security at the U.S. Capitol, but also put the same kind of effort and money into preventing radicalization years before anyone would ever think to mobilize in Washington, D.C.
Right-wing radicalization is essentially a public health problem, and our government is not well set-up for addressing those, especially mental health problems.
That does not make it impossible. Norway and New Zealand launched national action plans after major terrorist attacks there, and committed significant funds to them:
The German government introduced new legislation last year devoting more than 1 billion euros to address both racism and right-wing extremism. Initiatives are coordinated across seven different federal agencies. This adds to an already robust set of prevention programs running in local soccer clubs, theater and arts programs, and religious groups. Every city or region has a mobile advisory center, independent from law enforcement, that provides assessments and advice to any group or individual concerned about radicalization.
It is not that the United States has done nothing, writes Miller-Idriss. But the amounts spent are in the range of $20 million in a country many times the size of our allies. Yet, she notes, a study of 750 parents and caregivers indicated “only seven minutes of reading to improve their understanding of how radical ideas spread online.” Recognizing the warning signs is a teachable skill.
For this approach to work, though, local communities need funding, innovative ideas, and evidence-based models for programming. Federal support is key to all of that. But until the federal government recognizes that extremism is a public-health issue that needs to be fought locally, in a holistic way, our country will struggle to fight today’s battle against extremism with the tools from yesterday’s crisis.
First, we have to try.