Why We Can't Be Friends: Affinities and Disjunctions Between Far-Right Extremism in the United States and Europe

Much of contemporary scholarship and policy on far-right extremism believes in the increasingly global nature of the threat due to the rise of international networking and cooperation among right-wing activists. The international linkages of white nationalists across borders fuel recruitment and radicalization efforts as well as facilitate illegitimate financing, the spread of misinformation, and the proliferation of weapons. Yet, few researchers have questioned the degree and the spectrum of cooperation among right-wing supporters, assuming that ideological affinity of the movements suppresses nationally- and culturally- specific cleavages of the movements' constituents. Despite the widespread belief in the global nature of radical right extremism, there is scarce evidence of substantial transnational partnership among white nationalists, such as joint attacks, members' interchangeability, or public proclamations of collaboration. This work addresses the disjunctions of the global collective action problem by exploring the nationalistic value commitments of right-wing proponents that interrupt the general ideological affinity of the far-right movements in the United States and the European Union. The conceptual framework employed in this paper highlights the organizational, operational, and ideological differences and similarities between the two strands of contemporary right-wing extremism among the two continents. This research concludes that the strategies of the alt-right mobilization in the US are insufficient in their mobilizing potency when applied to the far-right movement in the EU due to incompatible national identities and cultural grievances of each social movement.