Right-wing terrorist groups: These groups seek to replace the entire political, social, and economic system but on the basis of an extremist right wing model. The core idea of this group is supremacy, in which one group, race, and religion is superior to all other people26. Right wing groups have also taken on a xenophobic and islamophobia position to spread fear and concern in Europe. The rise of right-wing extremist groups is poorly researched in comparison to ethno-nationalist and separatist groups. Where there are about 2,110 cases of ethno-nationalist and separatist groups, there are about 4 or 5 reports on the attacks of right-wing extremists27.
There are several contributing factors that explain the decline of attacks by this group. In Ravndal’s research in 2016, he identifies seven types of right-wing terrorists.
1. Organized groups: known entities with five or more members whose association primarily relies on a strong commitment to right-wing politics
2. Affiliated members: organized groups acting on their own
3. Autonomous cells: clandestine entity of two to four members whose association primarily relies on a strong commitment to right-wing politics
4. Gangs: informal constellations of three or more acquaintances with a general right-wing commitment, but whose loose association primarily relies on social bonds, e.g. skinhead gangs and racist youth gangs.
5. Unorganized: two or more perpetrators with no known association to any specific right-wing group, cell, or gang
6. Lone-actors: single perpetrators who prepare and sometimes also carry out attacks without anyone else knowing about it beforehand
7. Shadow groups: unresolved attacks claimed by formerly unknown groups
Since the 1990s these groups have used different weapons to attack individuals. RTV perpetrators most often resort to knives (119 incidents), unarmed beating and kicking (108 incidents), explosives (86 incidents), firearms (85 incidents), and blunt instruments such as iron bars, bats, or wooden sticks (68 incidents)29. In addition, firebombs (38 attacks) and arson (20 attacks) have also been frequently used. Truly complex terrorist attacks that combine explosives and firearms have so far happened only once (the 7/22/2011 attacks in Norway). Second, it used to be the case that these groups also targeted certain kinds of people. Unlike other terrorist groups, right wing extremist threats are declining.
Even though the data on right wing groups does not support the premise of this research paper, understanding their decline is useful for policy makers