Counter Extremism Perspectives

Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler and Alexander Ritzmann are joined by Juncal Fernández Garayzábal, author of a recent CEP report on the Ceuta border crisis and its implications for Europe’s security. They discuss how the mass crossing exposed vulnerabilities in migration management and counterterrorism. The discussion considers how a brief border crisis can create lasting security challenges and what it reveals about Europe’s reliance on cooperation with neighbouring countries.Read: Ceuta and the Risks of Interdependence Migration, Human Security and Counterterrorism at Europe's Border

In this episode, Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler and Alexander Ritzmann are joined by Alexander Price to discuss his three-part CEP blog series on the links between Russia and Italy’s far right, exploring Russia’s cultivation of relationships with Italian right-wing extremists and political networks—from the recruitment of mercenaries and the development of transnational martial arts networks to connections with mainstream politics. The discussion examines how these relationships form part of Russia’s wider hybrid warfare strategy in Europe and the implications for extremism, political influence, European security, and on Russia's war on Ukraine. Read the three-part blog series focussing on mercenaries and recruiters; Italian right wing politics; and transnational political and martial arts networks. 

In this new episode on Active Clubs, Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks with Alexander Ritzmann about his two latest articles on new Active Club strategies to ensure the network - that is quietly building a militia dressed up as sports clubs - can learn lessons from inner city riots and overcome its lack of appeal to women. The discussion in this episode refers to Alexanders’s recent articles: The Girls Will Follow? The Active Club’s Answer to the “Woman Question” and Extreme-Right Active Clubs are Treating the Riots in Belfast as a Case Study in Effective Violent Mobilization

In this new episode on antisemitic violence, Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks with Alexander Ritzmann about his latest report, which calls for a shift from incident response to “strategic disruption” of extremist networks, finances, and coordinators, and for treating antisemitism as a security threat.The discussion in this episode is based on Rethinking the Fight against Antisemitism after October 7 by Alexander Ritzmann, published in May 2026 by the Counter Extremism Project.

Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler and Alexander Ritzmann are joined by journalist and author Nicholas Potter—who has faced death threats and intimidation because of his work—to discuss the rise in left-wing extremism and antisemitism. They talk about groups on the left that put aside ideological differences to create larger networks united in anti-democratic, illiberal and antisemitic causes. Further reading: The New Authoritarian Left: An Acute Threat to Democratic Society by Nicholas Potter.