Bring the Race-War Home: Foreign Fighters, Neo-Nazi Networks, and Domestic Terrorism
03/17/25 • 71 min
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This week Chris and Jason read and discussed a paper Chris wrote for a strategic studies project about neo-Nazi terror networks and their links to far-right militias in Ukraine.
The influx of foreign fighters to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of 2022 has outpaced US intel and law enforcement agencies' ability to monitor potential radicals going to and coming from Ukraine. Far-right extremists have been drawn to the conflict in Ukraine since 2014 due to affiliated organizations that belong to a web of loosely related violent neo-fascist organizations. Several affiliated extremists have been apprehended planning terror attacks and other acts of violence.
Amos, Howard, and Harriet Salem. 2014. “Ukraine Clashes: Dozens Dead after Odessa Building Fire.” The Guardian. May 2, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/02/ukraine-dead-odessa-building-fire.
“Atomwaffen Division (AWD)/ National Socialist Order (NSO) | ADL.” 2020. Www.adl.org. April 29, 2020. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/atomwaffen-division-awd-national-socialist-order-nso.
Belew, Kathleen. 2018. Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Department of Homeland Security: US Customs and Border Protection. 2022. “Intelligence Note: United States Citizens Joining the Fight for Ukraine.”
Department of Justice: Office of Public Affairs. 2023. “Office of Public Affairs | Proud Boys Leader Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice.” Www.justice.gov. September 5, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-22-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related.
Goldman, Adam. 2020. “Man Suspected of Planning Attack on Missouri Hospital Is Killed, Officials Say.” The New York Times, March 25, 2020, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/coronavirus-fbi-shooting.html.
“James Mason.” 2019. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2019. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/james-mason.
Johnston, David Cay. 2002. “William Pierce, 69, Neo-Nazi Leader, Dies.” The New York Times, July 24, 2002, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/us/william-pierce-69-neo-nazi-leader-dies.html.
Kacper, Rekawek. 2022. Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: The Brown–Red Cocktail. New York: Routledge.
Kheel, Rebecca. 2018. “Congress Bans Arms to Ukraine Militia Linked to Neo-Nazis.” The Hill. March 27, 2018. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/380483-congress-bans-arms-to-controversial-ukrainian-militia-linked-to-neo-nazis/.
Kriner, Matthew, and Jon Lewis. 2021. “Pride & Prejudice: The Violent Evolution of the Proud Boys.” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. July 9, 2021. https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pride-prejudice-the-violent-evolution-of-the-proud-boys/.
Loisy, Par Florian, and Gwenael Bourdon et Jean-Michel Décugis Le 8 février 2022 à 06h15. 2022. “Enquête Sur Marc de Cacqueray-Valmenier, Le Sulfureux Chef Présumé des Zouaves Paris.” Leparisien.fr. February 8, 2022. https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/ultra-droite-qui-est-marc-de-cacqueray-valmenier-chef-presume-des-zouaves-paris-08-02-2022-TBCYP3EIPBA67GY2R7BR3ICAOE.php.
Makuch, Ben. 2023. “Wanted for Murder, an Army Vet Escaped to Ukraine — and Fought the Russians.” The Intercept. July 19, 2023. https://theintercept.com/2023/07/19/ukraine-war-american-foreign-fighter/.
Marone, Francesco. 2021. “Far-Right Extremism and Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy: A Case from Italy.” ISPI. October 21, 2021. https
This week Chris and Jason read and discussed a paper Chris wrote for a strategic studies project about neo-Nazi terror networks and their links to far-right militias in Ukraine.
The influx of foreign fighters to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of 2022 has outpaced US intel and law enforcement agencies' ability to monitor potential radicals going to and coming from Ukraine. Far-right extremists have been drawn to the conflict in Ukraine since 2014 due to affiliated organizations that belong to a web of loosely related violent neo-fascist organizations. Several affiliated extremists have been apprehended planning terror attacks and other acts of violence.
Amos, Howard, and Harriet Salem. 2014. “Ukraine Clashes: Dozens Dead after Odessa Building Fire.” The Guardian. May 2, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/02/ukraine-dead-odessa-building-fire.
“Atomwaffen Division (AWD)/ National Socialist Order (NSO) | ADL.” 2020. Www.adl.org. April 29, 2020. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/atomwaffen-division-awd-national-socialist-order-nso.
Belew, Kathleen. 2018. Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Department of Homeland Security: US Customs and Border Protection. 2022. “Intelligence Note: United States Citizens Joining the Fight for Ukraine.”
Department of Justice: Office of Public Affairs. 2023. “Office of Public Affairs | Proud Boys Leader Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice.” Www.justice.gov. September 5, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-22-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related.
Goldman, Adam. 2020. “Man Suspected of Planning Attack on Missouri Hospital Is Killed, Officials Say.” The New York Times, March 25, 2020, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/coronavirus-fbi-shooting.html.
“James Mason.” 2019. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2019. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/james-mason.
Johnston, David Cay. 2002. “William Pierce, 69, Neo-Nazi Leader, Dies.” The New York Times, July 24, 2002, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/us/william-pierce-69-neo-nazi-leader-dies.html.
Kacper, Rekawek. 2022. Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: The Brown–Red Cocktail. New York: Routledge.
Kheel, Rebecca. 2018. “Congress Bans Arms to Ukraine Militia Linked to Neo-Nazis.” The Hill. March 27, 2018. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/380483-congress-bans-arms-to-controversial-ukrainian-militia-linked-to-neo-nazis/.
Kriner, Matthew, and Jon Lewis. 2021. “Pride & Prejudice: The Violent Evolution of the Proud Boys.” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. July 9, 2021. https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pride-prejudice-the-violent-evolution-of-the-proud-boys/.
Loisy, Par Florian, and Gwenael Bourdon et Jean-Michel Décugis Le 8 février 2022 à 06h15. 2022. “Enquête Sur Marc de Cacqueray-Valmenier, Le Sulfureux Chef Présumé des Zouaves Paris.” Leparisien.fr. February 8, 2022. https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/ultra-droite-qui-est-marc-de-cacqueray-valmenier-chef-presume-des-zouaves-paris-08-02-2022-TBCYP3EIPBA67GY2R7BR3ICAOE.php.
Makuch, Ben. 2023. “Wanted for Murder, an Army Vet Escaped to Ukraine — and Fought the Russians.” The Intercept. July 19, 2023. https://theintercept.com/2023/07/19/ukraine-war-american-foreign-fighter/.
Marone, Francesco. 2021. “Far-Right Extremism and Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy: A Case from Italy.” ISPI. October 21, 2021. https
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