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Policy Session: Oslo and Utøya, Six Months On

Prospects for Countering Violent Right-Wing Extremism in Europe

23 January 2012
London

ISD hosted a policy session on 23 January 2012, six months after the terror attacks in Norway. This event focused on both understanding the mechanisms through which right-wing radicalism has the potential to develop into violence, and developing sound national policies to prevent these mechanisms. It opened with a briefing on the terror attacks in Norway and a review of the consequences and meaning for Norway and how Europe approaches the ‘threat’ of the far right. The event then moved into several focused sessions on local-level policies to counter violent extremism; how and whether the dynamics of far right political parties may serve as a trigger for violence; and how we should engage with these ideologies at the national level to prevent extremist violence.

Lead speakers included Professor Tore Bjørgo (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norwegian Police University) and Dr Matthew Goodwin (University of Nottingham, Chatham House). The event hosted 25 policy makers, security analysts  and journalists as well as practitioners predominantly from the UK, Scandinavia, and Germany.

The event also signalled the release of a new ISD report on violent right-wing extremism, authored by Vidhya Ramalingam and Matthew Goodwin. This report can be accessed here.