Executive Summary

Extremism in the US military and among veterans is a long-standing issue, fueled by the interest of foreign terrorists and domestic extremist groups to recruit trained individuals and by poor governmental monitoring and prevention. The phenomenon has documented cases and examples going back to the second half of the 20th Century. Moreover, extremist organisations understand the importance of having members with highly specialised skills. They can, in fact, increase the chance of conducting lethal and successful attacks. This makes it likely that this trend will continue.

Incidents of U.S. soldiers’ radicalisation by foreign terrorist organisations have drawn much media attention and citizen concern. However, domestic far-right groups also demonstrate a high interest in improving military capabilities. Extreme right-wing ideologies are widespread among soldiers and veterans. The FBI (prior to the new administration) ranked domestic far-right extremist movements as a top national security threat. Recent changes in the US administration signal an increased disinterest in countering radicalisation in the US armed forces. In fact, despite recent attacks from veterans and soldiers, the new leadership of the Department of Defence recently shelved important counter-extremism tools.

Images Sourced From: Yahoo News, CFR, Joanna Seltzer