A suite of recent troubling events have once again shone a spotlight on extremist violence, especially the kind involving online radicalisation of young people.

The devastating Islamic State (IS) attack in Moscow on 22 March bought home the reality that the terrorism threat remains. The defeat of the territorial IS caliphate five years ago was accompanied by a respite from the global campaign of attacks that commenced with the declaration of the pseudo state on 29 June 2014. The news from Moscow is that the IS threat is back.

Just days after the deadly Westfield Bondi attacks, a second knife attack in Sydney has generated widespread shock and grief. This time, a 16-year-old entered an Assyrian church and rushed forward to stab the popular bishop presiding over a service, together with a priest who rushed to his defence. The shocking events were captured on the church’s video stream, and the news quickly reached thousands of members of Sydney’s large Assyrian community.

President Vladimir Putin has long sought to restore Russia’s global status after the personally and nationally humiliating defeat of the Cold War. One of the ways he has done so is through Russia’s involvement in the Middle East – highlighted by Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria but also evidenced in many other ways. By acting as a spoiler in Afghanistan, Putin also sought to accelerate and take advantage of the United States’ own humiliating withdrawal from the region to shore up Russia’s position as a major power.

Most contemporary research on extremism focuses on fringe groups that seek to overturn the status quo in a given society. Therefore, in the academic literature, we find a widespread, but not universal, belief that extremism is by definition a fringe behavior that runs counter to dominant social norms. In this paper, I make the case that regardless of whether the extremist group is fringe or dominant, extremist beliefs do not fundamentally change in character.

MARIO PEUCKER • July 12, 2023
“Reverse racism” is sometimes used to describe situations where white people believe they are negatively stereotyped or discriminated against because of their whiteness – or treated less favourably than people of colour.

GREG BARTON • May 18, 2023

“Hate and prejudice hold no place in our community and we will not tolerate any offensive and abhorrent anti-social behaviour.” This statement by a Victoria Police spokeswoman could not have been clearer. Hate and prejudice are most certainly not welcome in one of the world’s most diverse and successful multicultural communities.

GREG BARTON • February 16, 2023

Violent extremism remains a persistent and resilient threat, constantly adapting and evolving. It is an endlessly demanding problem and we can neither afford to ignore it nor allow it to disproportionately consume our finite resources.

JOSH ROOSE • January 20, 2023

Amid the growing threat of far-right extremism in Australia, Victoria recently became the first state to ban the Nazi swastika (known as the Hakenkreuz). Publicly displaying the symbol is now a criminal offence and carries a penalty of up to $22,000, or 12 months of imprisonment.

GREG BARTON • December 30, 2022

Eight years after raising the national terrorism threat level, Australia recently lowered it again – from mid-range (probable) to low-range (possible). Does this mean the threat from terrorism is over? Few are better placed to answer this than Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security and head of ASIO, Australia’s domestic intelligence agency.

VIVIAN GERRAND • December 20, 2022

Consider the following. A terrorist attack occurs. Journalist: “Quick, breaking news — better get on top of it to boost our traffic.” Researcher: “Not again — but this is relevant to my work, an opportunity to prove my research has impact!” It is truly terrifying to think that a terrorist attack can serve as a vehicle for meeting performance benchmarks in competitive work environments.

HELEN YOUNG • December 10, 2022

Reports of far-right extremists trying to recruit young people through video games have raised concerns for parents, guardians and youth alike. In October, a statement from Australian Federal Police said officers had seen evidence of extremist groups trying to recruit young people through online games. In one instance, a teen had shared a video game recreation of the 2019 Christchurch attack.

VIVIAN GERRAND • June 1, 2022

While algorithmic design is one critical component of supporting prosocial resilience to online polarisation, equally important is the kind of content delivered by such design. As a contributor to the latest BRaVE Special edition of First Monday, my article explores how alternative narratives online may be used to enhance resilience to societal polarisation and violent extremism.

JOSH ROOSE • February 15, 2022

As the 2022 federal election draws nearer, there are many factors that may shape the outcome. This is not Australia’s first experience of a pandemic, nor the first time this has played a role in state divisions and elections: the 1919 Spanish Influenza pandemic is a case in point.

ANDREW ZAMMIT • December 16, 2021

Australia’s current approach to national security has increasingly prioritised strategic competition between states, with ASIO suggesting that state-based threats such as espionage and foreign interference could become a greater concern than terrorism. In contrast, national security statements by the Abbott government and the Turnbull government emphasised counter-terrorism above other threats. 

ANDREW ZAMMIT • September 14, 2021

The brutal stabbing of six people, by an Islamic State supporter in an Auckland mall, has spurred efforts to update New Zealand’s counter-terrorism laws. This is driven by concerns that the tragedy might have been prevented if there had been a specific criminal offence for plotting a terrorist attack.

ANDREW ZAMMIT • August 5, 2021

What forms do Australian connections to Islamic State take, now that the movement has lost its territory in Syria and Iraq? The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security’s ongoing inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia has given long-overdue attention to the extreme-right, but also highlighted that Islamic State remains a serious security concern.

ANDREW ZAMMIT • April 10, 2021

The Australian government’s recent decision to proscribe the far-right extremist group Sonnenkrieg Division as a terrorist organisation followed months of public debate about the merits of banning such groups. The debate continues, focusing on whether the government has should ban more extreme-right groups.

HELEN YOUNG & GEOFF BOUCHER • September 16, 2020

On 26 February this year, members of the extreme-Right group Atomwaffen Division in the United States were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Alongside plans for the intimidation of journalists, including death threats, the group aimed to weaponise the coronavirus, maintaining that it was the “obligation” of white supremacists to spread it.

ANDREW ZAMMIT • July 13, 2020

A new poll shows that Australians see terrorism as a less significant threat than they used to. In the Lowy Institute Poll 2020, which measures Australian attitudes on international affairs, 46% of respondents listed terrorism as a "critical threat" to "the vital interests of Australia". This was down from 66% just two years earlier, 68% the year before, and 73% when the poll began in 2006. More people listed issues other than terrorism as critical threats, such as climate change (59%), environmental disasters like bushfires (67%), economic downturn (71%), COVID-19 (76%) and drought (77%).