Strategic Framing of Racial-Nationalism in North America and Europe: An Analysis of a Burgeoning Transnational Network

Following the deadly Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, far-right racialist leaders responded rapidly to changes in the political environment, disavowing militia and Patriot violence and exploiting increased public concerns about immigration and the growth of nonwhite populations. Evidence suggests that Patriot movement demobilization may have actually helped to swell the ranks of racial-nationalists. As attention to political violence shifted to international terrorism in the aftermath of September 11, racial-nationalist movement actors again moved quickly to seize the opportunity. The strategic framing of the crisis by racial-nationalist leaders revealed the existence of a transnational network of allies promoting a two-pronged message, 1) a virulent anti-Semitic assault on pro-Israel U.S. foreign policy and 2) a broadside on immigration and multiculturalism. The lineaments of these transnational networks are analyzed in an effort to explain a “trajectory of contention” regarding this emergent movement. Possible links between racial-nationalists and Islamic militants are also explored.