Communist Threat Research Articles

Anticorrupção No Brasil: Uma Luta Seletiva (Anti-Corruption in Brazil: A Selective Struggle)

The anti-corruption discourse was one of the main pillars, together with the anti-communist discourse, for the 1964 civil-military coup to take place and to try to justify its permanence. Despite the anti-communist discourse having resided over the 21 years of the Brazilian dictatorship, its strength was relativized over time, and its importance in the immediate post-coup was diminished in favor of the anti-corruption speech when it became clear that the communist threat had been overestimated (MOTTA , 2016, p. 22) and, for strategic reasons such as the political persecution of personalities who could hardly be classified as communists. This article aims to bring to light and discuss one of the most mystified periods, for strategic reasons, and the least studied of the 1964 civil-military regime: the Branco government and, especially, the discourse that during his government there was no corruption. The reason for this mystification is simple, there is a dispute over the memory of this period by the sectors that supported the coup, an Operation Salva Castelo (BIROLI, 2009, p.281) that aims to endure the idea that support for the coup would have been legitimate and that there was a loss of direction along the way in which radical sectors had taken power and only then torture, corruption and all the evils arose from this regime - a false narrative, obviously. Whoever supports this thesis seeks not only to modify and mystify the past, but to legitimize themselves as decisive actors in guiding the present and future of the country in the public arena. Speeches like these allow, for example, that newspapers such as O Estado de S. Paulo or O Globo (two of the biggest enthusiasts and supporters of the coup) can try to portray themselves as supporters of the coup, but with restrictions, as, for example, asking to the reader to understand that they aimed to protect the democracy and morality that would be at risk in the Jango government by the supposed communist threat and by corruption.

Was Maoist China a Clone of the Soviet Union?

Was Maoist China a Clone of the Soviet Union? Felix Wemheuer Lucien Bianco, Stalin and Mao: A Comparison of the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, translated by Krystyna Horko. 448 pp. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-9882370654. $65.00. Elizabeth McGuire, Red at Heart: How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution. 462 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0190640552. $34.95. It has become fashionable in Western China studies to write about transnational entanglements between the People's Republic (PRC) and the Soviet Union or to compare the development of both countries. The similarities of Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's China are obviously many, making it impossible to cover them all in a single text. Two new books approach this comparison from different angles. Lucian Bianco looks at the great leaders and macropolitics in Stalin and Mao: A Comparison of the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, while Elizabeth McGuire uses a focus on personal relations and microhistory in Red at Heart: How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution. This review discusses the two monographs within the larger context of Western China studies and with attention to paradigm shifts in Sino-Soviet relations. Paradigm Shifts in Western China Studies Since the mid-1930s, Western scholarship regarding the impact of the Soviet Union on the Chinese Revolution and later the PRC underwent several paradigm shifts. During World War II and under the alliance of the United States and China against the Japanese Empire, Chinese Communists were often considered anti-imperialists and nationalists. The bestseller Red Star over China, written by the American journalist Edgar Snow, contributed to [End Page 442] the view of Mao Zedong as a grassroots revolutionary. The lives of communist leaders in the revolutionary base area in Yan'an were presented by Snow as simple and egalitarian. Therefore, Snow saw Chinese communism as an alternative to bureaucratic state socialism in the Soviet Union.1 When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949, the Cold War had already started. Anticommunist hardliners in the McCarthy era blamed "liberals" of the former Roosevelt administration and scholars in China studies for underestimating the communist threat and causing the "loss of China." In the 1950s, the newly founded PRC was often seen in the West as a "Soviet satellite state" and "totalitarian dictatorship." Western perception started to change significantly due to the rise of the Anti–Vietnam War movement and the New Left around 1968. Activists and many scholars then saw Maoist China through the lenses of anti-imperialism and Third World liberation movements.2 The New Left considered the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) an experiment in mass participation and rural based-development strategies. Western media reports about the horrors of the Cultural Revolution were often ignored as "anticommunist propaganda"; violence was rationalized, because "revolution is not a dinner party," as Chairman Mao had said. The guerilla fighter and the "barefoot doctor" became poster children for an alternative development model to Western and Soviet modernity. CCP criticism of "Soviet revisionism," and in part Western scholarship, emphasized the "Chinese way" of building socialism.3 From the 1930s until the early 1990s, the history of the CCP was often written as step-by-step emancipation from domination by the Comintern and the Soviet Union. The departure from revolutionary Maoism in China after "Reform and Opening" in 1978 destroyed many dreams and illusions. However, it was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening of the archives of the Comintern and CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union), that the history of the Chinese Revolution was rewritten again. The new findings from archives deconstructed the myths that the CCP had taken an independent path from the Soviet Union. Stalin's guidance and Soviet support had played [End Page 443] a crucial role in creating the second United Front with the Nationalists (GMD) against Japan in 1937 and in bringing the CCP into power in 1949.4 Archival documents show that Soviet advisers influenced the development of the political and economic system in China in the early 1950s based on the Stalinist model. In the fields of culture, education, agriculture, and policies...

Between Isolation and Reconciliation: The “North Korean Puppet” as a Controversy in South Korean Politics, 1966

The present study examines how the concurrence of multipolarity and North Korean regime consolidation in the mid-1960s pressured South Korean political elites to reconsider the isolation of the “North Korean puppet” (Pukhan koeroe) inherent to unification policy at the time. The Sino-Soviet split, American policy alterations toward China and its impending UN entry in the context of the Vietnam War, and Soviet-American peaceful coexistence ensured the rise of a “Two Korea” view internationally. Meanwhile, North Korea gained the support of nonaligned countries and the Soviet Union, positioned itself to benefit from the boon of China’s rise, and established the monolithic ideological system. These circumstances not only invalidated Seoul’s claim to sole legitimacy (“One Korea”), but fundamentally challenged the inherent premise of isolating the “North Korean puppet” to the point of collapse. In 1966, the pressing need to factor these circumstances into unification policy deliberation produced a head-on partisan collision regarding the feasibility of isolationism, if not the nature of the North Korean communist threat itself. Whereas the ruling Democratic Republication Party’s (DRP) policy of “construction first, unification later” represented a variant of isolationism, the Masses Party’s (MP) criticism of the policy did not clarify the conditions for reconciliation. From the mid-1960s, the notion of North Korea as a passing phenomenon went into irreversible decline, compelling a reformulation of unification policy with respect to anti-communist orthodoxy.

KERJASAMA SARAWAK DAN KALIMANTAN DALAM MENGHADAPI ANCAMAN KOMUNIS, 1963-1974

Extended Abstract Background: Sarawak, located in Malaysia and Kalimantan, in Indonesia are two twin regions of Borneo Island that depend on many aspects including political, economic, social and security. The position of the two border areas is very important to keep an eye on in avoiding any issues that can gives a huge impact on the socioeconomic wellbeing. This statement provides a clear message that security aspects must be the government's main agenda in maintaining peace and prosperity. However, in the face of unprecedented security developments in either Sarawak or Kalimantan from 1963 to 1974, leaders from both regions saw the need for the synergy in restoring Sarawak's security due to communist threats to both areas. In ensuring this, Sarawak and Kalimantan believe that diplomatic relations need to be strengthened to facilitate cooperation and assistance when needed. To accomplish this purpose, this paper will describe the military collaboration between Sarawak and Kalimantan from 1963 to 1974. This period was chosen in view of the communist threat in both areas. Communist ideology does not conform to the beliefs and lifestyles practiced by Muslims around the world. In the context of Islamic teachings, this communist ideology is far from a creed and should be rejected altogether because it claims that the Prophet Muhammad was nothing more than a fairy tale created in the eighth century by the command of an Arab Caliph. Regarding the Qur'an, the communists described its contents as a collection of religious clauses, divisions, divisions and mixed laws. The Quran was

Europe of nations, Europe without nationalism

ABSTRACTIn the end of the 1940s and early 1950s, the discussion among authors, philosophers and other intellectuals on the future of Europe took on themes from the inter war period like crisis, decline and nihilism, but they also added new takes. This contextual examination treats a transnational discourse on European cultural unity. As a starting point, it takes the changing framework of the postwar era with on the one hand the early repeating of the crisis-views and on the other hand the Iron wall and communist threat. The article includes four intellectuals from different countries. Among them, Salvador Madariaga and Denis Rougemont were stout Europeanists that opposed the idea of the nationalism already before the war. Also at that time Karl Jaspers and Stephen Spender critiqued their societies but came out as Europeanists only after the Second World War. They met at congresses and paid significant attention to the concept of Europe. I make use of the proceedings from the congress L’esprit européen (1946) and their treaties on Europe from the following years. The article investigates this discourse with a focus on how Jaspers, Madariaga, Rougemont and Spender assessed the intersection of European unity with nation and nationalism.

Against Anarchy and Hitler: French Nationalism and Spanish Civil War

Combination of internal political and social crisis with armed conflict in the neighbour country behind the less dangerous frontier without any possibility of obtaining fastly any real aid from allies is one of the worst possible political scenarios in the time of peace. France faced such a situation in 1936 after her Popular Front’s electoral victory and the beginnig of military mutiny in Spain provoqued by further escalation of internal political struggle. Mutiny developed into civil war that, beeing local geographically, became a global political problem because it troubled many great powers and first of all France. This article depicts and analyzes position and views on Spanish civil war and its antecedents of French nationalist royalist movement «Action française» leaded by Charles Maurras (1868–1952) and her allies in next generations of French nationalists – philosopher and political writer Henri Massis (1886–1970) and novelist Robert Brasillach (1909–1945). All of them from the first day hailed Spanish Nationalist cause and were sure in her final victory so took side against any French help, first of all military, to Spanish Republican government, propagated Franco’s political program, denounced Soviet intervention into Spanish affairs and “Communist threat”. Staying for Catholic and Latin unity French nationalists were anxious to prevent Franco’s rapprochement with Nazi Germany that they regarded as France’s “hereditary emeny” notwithstanding of political regime. Trips of Maurras and Massis to Spain in 1938 and theirs meetings with Franco were aimed to demonstrate this kind of unity with silent but clear anti-German overtone. Brasillach’s “History of War in Spain” (1939) became the first French overview of the events from Nationalist point of view.

Romania’s Great Union and the Anti-Communist Discourse

Abstract This text re-constructs the evolution of anticommunist ideas and practices during the period of Romania’s ‘great union’, while it also sketches the international context that enabled this evolution. It is a genealogical discourse analysis that serves for a better understanding of Romania’s present political and social climate. The political, diplomatic and military process of crafting ‘Greater Romania’ between 1918 and 1919 rested fundamentally on the anticommunist discourse. This discourse functioned as a pretext for the armed interventions in the desired territories. It also helped to securitize and pacify these three territories. The Romanian army entered Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transylvania with the goal of protecting the local population against Bolshevik disorders and ‘anarchy’. The anticommunist discourse evolved from the panic generated by retreating Russian soldiers and the ‘anarchy’ they created towards the fear of contagion with the revolutionary ‘psychosis’. The answer to the communist threat was invariably violent and militaristic in nature. The ideas and issues raised by the communists were never legitimized as a political project but as a crime and a pathology that could destroy society. In this context, what we now refer to as ‘the Great Union’ was largely the substitution of social and economic projects with the hegemonic narrative of anti-communism.

Meeting the Communist Threat in Greece: American diplomats, ideology and stereotypes 1944-1950

This paper focuses on four US officials serving in Greece at a critical period in both Greek and American political history. The Greek Civil War (1946-9) was decisive in the development of the Cold War confrontation. The Truman Doctrine (1947) represents an ideological milestone in this respect. In particular, the paper explores the views of Lincoln MacVeagh (ambassador 1944-7), Paul A. Porter (chief of the American Economic Mission to Greece, 1947), Dwight Griswold (chief of the American Mission for Aid to Greece 1947-8) and Henry Grady (ambassador 1948-50), namely their perceptions of the Greek post-war crisis in relation to the strategic goal of anticommunism. The emphasis of the analysis is on their understanding of the Greek social and political conditions - and especially of the nature of the communist threat – and of the goals involved in the American aid to the country. These four case studies highlight the interaction between the prevailing ideology in foreign policy objectives and the personal belief systems. Cultural preconditions and stereotypes constitute the framework in the context of which US officials sought to contain the communist challenge in Greece both though military as well as through economic and ideological means.

"UM ESPECTRO RONDA O BRASIL": AS CONCEPÇÕES EDUCACIONAIS E O IDEÁRIO RELIGIOSO ANTICOMUNISTA DIFUNDIDO PELA REVISTA "A ORDEM" (1930-1045)

O presente artigo tem como objetivo apresentar discussões considerando o caráter educativo da Imprensa e sua influência na produção e veiculação de ideias. Trata-se de um estudo bibliográfico-documental, no qual foi priorizada a veiculação das ideias pela revista A Ordem (1930-1945), produzida pelo centro Dom Vital. A propaganda anticomunista d’A Ordem, foi a base para a discussão em questão. Entende-se que os fundamentos do pensamento católico, via de regra conservador, que se colocava em oposição ao pensamento liberal em ascensão no país, manifestava-se e era propagado, essencialmente, por meio da revista A Ordem. Conclui-se que apesar de se colocar no campo político oposto ao dos liberais, o pensamento católico mais aproximava-se do que se afastava, quando se tratava da “ameaça comunista”.

U.S. Perceptions of the Communist Threat in Iran during the Mossadegh Era

Most studies of the coup d’état in Iran in August 1953—a coup backed by U.S. and British intelligence agencies—attribute it at least partly to U.S. concerns about the threat of a Communist takeover in Iran. This article examines the evidence available to U.S. officials about the nature of the Communist threat in Iran prior to the coup, in the form of reports, analyses, and policy papers written on this subject at the time by U.S. officials. The documentation reveals that U.S. policymakers did not have compelling evidence that the threat of a Communist takeover was increasing substantially in the months before the coup. Rather, the Eisenhower administration interpreted the available evidence in a more alarming manner than the Truman administration had. The coup the administration undertook in response was therefore premature, at best.

A Second Evil Empire: The James Bond Series, ''Red China'', and Cold War Cinema

“Red China” became a prominent player in the James Bond films of the 1960s. Recent Cold War scholarship has highlighted the pivotal role of cinema in shaping Western conceptions of the Communist threat during the Cold War period. The James Bond series, in particular, has played an important part in transforming the image of “Red China” from a regional to a global threat in the cultural imagination of the Cold War. This article explores the ways in which the theme of “Red China” entered Western cinema as part of the cultural Cold War, as well as the significant role cinema has played in shaping competing images of China during this conflict.

The early years of Philippine Studies, 1953 to 1966

The academic journal has been a key element of the scholarly world for some time and as a key component of this world it deserves historical examination. But this has not often been forthcoming, especially for regions of the world outside the Anglo-American core. In this article I examine the content of the early years of Philippine Studies. Founded in 1953, it has survived and prospered up to the present day as a vehicle for scholarly studies of the Philippines. The content of the early years of Philippine Studies (1953–66) reflected a desire on the part of its editors and many of its authors and supporters to create a Philippine society based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, one that would be strong enough to create a middle path between communism and liberalism. Articles published during this period advocated social reform based on the teachings of the Catholic Church; these articles also aired warnings about the communist threat to the Philippines and the world. But alongside these materials were literary and historical studies that also, but in a more indirect fashion, supported the project of Catholic-inspired social reform.

The Nature of Oman’s Relations with Iran

Relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Islamic Republic of Iran extend back to the ancient civilisations that inhabited both regions. At first, trade was the only connection between the two countries. This later evolved into the Persian occupation of Oman which ended in the first century BC after the battle of Saloot. However, these ancient relations are irrelevant to this paper which seeks to examine the nature of the relations between the two states in current times. Oman recognizes Iran as an ancient civilization, not just a new or modernized state. Oman does not ignore the role of Iran in the region and gives it its deserved attention. This is because Oman understands Iran’s significant contemporary and historical position in the Middle East.It is undoubted that Omani influence reached the Iranian territories through the message of Islam. This was the result of Omani merchants and travelers who sailed through the golden strait (Hormuz) to the Iranian border. Moreover, some Persian and Arab tribes settled in the north cost of Oman and lived peacefully together till the modern days. Oman-Iran’s relationship is based on reciprocal respect and not interfering in the internal affairs of both states. The security and logistic cooperation between the two states was very strong in the 1970s and reached its peak in 1977, when the Shah of Iran visited Oman. In the 1970s, Oman signed several agreements, many of which were with Iran, to secure itself from communist threats.

The Nature of Oman’s Relations with Iran

Relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Islamic Republic of Iran extend back to the ancient civilisations that inhabited both regions. At first, trade was the only connection between the two countries. This later evolved into the Persian occupation of Oman which ended in the first century BC after the battle of Saloot. However, these ancient relations are irrelevant to this paper which seeks to examine the nature of the relations between the two states in current times. Oman recognizes Iran as an ancient civilization, not just a new or modernized state. Oman does not ignore the role of Iran in the region and gives it its deserved attention. This is because Oman understands Iran’s significant contemporary and historical position in the Middle East.It is undoubted that Omani influence reached the Iranian territories through the message of Islam. This was the result of Omani merchants and travelers who sailed through the golden strait (Hormuz) to the Iranian border. Moreover, some Persian and Arab tribes settled in the north cost of Oman and lived peacefully together till the modern days. Oman-Iran’s relationship is based on reciprocal respect and not interfering in the internal affairs of both states. The security and logistic cooperation between the two states was very strong in the 1970s and reached its peak in 1977, when the Shah of Iran visited Oman. In the 1970s, Oman signed several agreements, many of which were with Iran, to secure itself from communist threats.

US grand strategy and the origins of the developmental state

ABSTRACT Scholars have credited a model of state-led capitalism called the ‘developmental state’ with producing the economic miracles of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This article examines how the developmental state was shaped by the Cold War. US grand strategy focused on accelerating economic development among allies that were under the greatest threat from Communist China and North Korea. American aid agencies became involved in the process of state-building in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan and supported economic planning. I verify this claim by contrasting US policies on Taiwan with US policies in the Philippines, which faced a weaker Communist threat.

ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЇ ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОЇ ПОЛІТИКИ США У ДРУГІЙ ПОЛОВИНІ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ

The article deals with the European aspects of the US foreign policy in the 2nd half of the 20th century. It also includes studies of the transatlantic relations of the described period and the exploration of an American influence on European integration processes. It is determined that the United States has demonstrated itself as a partner of the Western governments in the post-war reconstruction and further creation of an area of US security and prosperity. At the same time, it is noted that the American presidents have differently shaped their administrations’ policies towards Europe. The greatest supporter of the European integration processes was President Eisenhower. Among other things, the US President believed that Europe would become a key ally of the United States, thus, he considered the union of Sweden, Greece, Spain and Yugoslavia as a solid foundation for building a “United States of Europe”. After Eisenhower administration, European affairs, to a lesser extent, were taken up by such Presidents as Johnson, Carter, Reagan and Clinton. Showing no personal interest, Kennedy, Nixon and Bush-Sr. were forced to support the transatlantic dialogue, understanding the inevitability of European integration and the need for the United States to cooperate with the new consolidated actor. The United States aimed to strengthen its position in the European space, moving to that purpose by using NATO mechanisms and applying the policies of American protectionism against the communist threat. The main competitor of the United States for strengthening national positions in Europe was France led by General de Gaulle, who believed that the affairs of Europe should be resolved by European governments without the American intervention. However, NATO continued to serve as a springboard for the U.S. involvement in European affairs. At the end of the 20th century, through the close links between the EU and NATO, the USA received new allies from Central and Eastern European countries. It is concluded that after the end of World War II, Europe needed an assistance that the United States willingly provided in exchange for the ability to participate in European issues, solving and partly controlling the integration processes. The study found that, despite the varying degree of the American interest in transatlantic affairs, Europe has consistently been remaining a zone of national interest for the United States.

ПОЗИЦІЯ США ЩОДО КОНГОЛЕЗЬКОЇ КРИЗИ У 1960 Р.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the United States attitude towards the appearance of the Republic of the Congo on the world map on the eve of the declaration of independence and at the first stage of the unfolding of events known as the «Congolese Crisis of 1960-1965». The research is based on declassified materials from the State Department of the USA and the Central Intelligence Agency. There were investigated attitudes of American ruling circles towards the emergence and intensification of the communist threat in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as concrete steps to eliminate it and promote the interests of the United States and their allies. Particular attention was paid to the fight against the political line of the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, who was seen in Washington as a leader in the spread of USSR influence in the region. The period from the declaration of independence of the Republic of the Congo to the resignation of the Government of P. Lumumba was singled out as the first stage of the Congolese crisis. It was discovered that in addition to the official foreign policy line, it was realized a number of informal measures and methods of political influence of the US on internal processes in the Republic of the Congo, engulfed by separatist movements and military confrontation of the central government and unrecognized territorial formations, in particular the Katanga State and the Southern Kasai Mining State. In the article there are analyzed plans and programs, developed on behalf of the CIA’s top executives in Washington, aiming to prevent another state from entering the orbit of the outside influence of the Soviet-led Communist bloc with the prospect of further loss of not only a single country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

ЄВРОІНТЕГРАЦІЙНІ ПРОЦЕСИ У ЗОВНІШНІЙ ПОЛІТИЦІ ДУАЙТА ЕЙЗЕНХАУЕРА

The article deals with European integration processes through the prism of the President Eisenhower foreign policy. The transatlantic relations are explored considering the geopolitical transformations in Europe. It is noted that after the end of World War II, Europe needed assistance on the path to economic recovery. Eisenhower initially as Commander in Chief of NATO forces in Europe, and later as the U.S. President, directed his foreign policy efforts to unite the states of Western Europe in their post-war renovating and confronting the communist threat. For that reason, Eisenhower deserved recognition by the leading European governments and became a major American figure, which symbolized the reliable transatlantic ally. Eisenhower’s interest in a united Europe was explained by the need for the United States in a strong single European partner that would help to strengthening the U.S. positions in the international arena. The United States expected to control the European integration processes through NATO instruments and mediated disputes between the leading European powers. Germany’s accession to the Alliance was determined as one of the key issues, the solution of which became the diplomatic victory of President Eisenhower. The U.S. government was building its European policy based on the need to integrate the Western states into a unified power, and therefore endorsed the prospect of creating a European Economic Community (EEC). It was intended that the union would include Italy, France, Germany and the Benelux members, and form a basis for the development of free trade and the deeper political and economic integration of the regional countries. It is concluded that, under the Eisenhower’s presidency, Europe was at the top of priority list of the U.S. foreign policy that significantly influenced the evolution of the European integration process in the future.

Sailing through the Cold War: Indian Navy's Quest for a Submarine Arm, 1947-67

ABSTRACTIt took approximately two decades for the Indian Navy to acquire submarines even when the first naval plan prepared by the Naval Headquarters in New Delhi and informally submitted to the British Admiralty in September 1947 contained an active submarine component. Other littoral navies in the Indian Ocean went for submarines much earlier. Using Indian, British, and U.S. archives, this article argues that the delay in India’s submarine arm was largely a result of the vagaries of the Cold War. Both Britain and the United States wanted the Indian Navy to contribute to the Western effort for a collective defense against the communist threat, which was largely conceived to be submarine based. This resulted in a surface heavy force structure. However, as India’s threat perceptions changed in 1960s, its quest for submarines gained momentum. When negotiations with the Western powers did not result in anything concrete, Indian Navy turned to the Soviets for initiating its own submarine arm. This decision had long-term implications for the Indian Navy as its underwater fleet thereafter remain dependent upon Soviet assistance for the rest of the Cold War.

From Extremism to Terrorism: The Radicalisation of the Far Right in Italy and West Germany

Since the 1960s in Italy and Germany the notion has prevailed that ‘the state’ has given support to right-wing terrorism. This article challenges such views by examining the internal dynamics of right-wing terrorism in both countries with reference to Ehud Sprinzak's theory of ‘split delegitimisation’. To explain the different scale of Italian and West German terrorism one must analyse personnel continuities, the nature of the perceived ‘communist threat’, as well as the national political culture. Thus, without neglecting state support for the far right, this article emphasises how the internal dynamics of terrorist groups respond to political and social frameworks. Only if we acknowledge that right-wing terrorist groups possess their own agency can we fully understand their development. This is even more urgent in a time when – once again – the far right is on the rise in Europe.