Episode 74: Antidemocratic Insurrections and Populist Uprising—Germany, Brazil, and the United States

In December 2022, German authorities arrested dozens of people tied to an alleged right-wing extremist plot to overthrow the German government. Among the accused are a member of a former German noble family, a member of the German army’s elite force KSK, and a former member of the Bundestag from the far-right AfD party (who had worked as a federal judge). The alleged conspirators are tied to the Reichsbürger movement, which rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state and seeks to overthrow the Federal Republic. This incident echoes recent attempts by right-wing extremists to terrorize or overturn democratically elected governments by violent means on both sides of the Atlantic, including most recently the attempted insurrection in Brasilia on January 8. On this episode, AICGS President Jeff Rathke and AICGS Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture, and Politics Program Eric Langenbacher join former AICGS fellow Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, one of the United States’ leading scholars on extremism and radicalization, to assess trends in right-wing extremist mobilization and its impact on politics and societies in Germany, the United States, and beyond. Dr. Miller-Idriss is a Professor at American University in Washington, DC and is the founding Director the AU’s Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). We discussed whether current approaches to monitor right-wing extremism are sufficient. Have extreme groups around the world become more dangerous by learning from each other’s attempted attacks on democratic institutions? What can be done to prevent mobilization of antidemocratic extremists and normalization of political violence? Host Jeff Rathke, President, AICGS Guests Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Professor, American University Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program