From the Desk of the Director
Over the last six months, the Program on Extremism at George Washington University has lived up to its decade-long tradition of providing cutting-edge research on various policy-relevant issues. While doing so, the Program underwent a substantial expansion and reorganization.
The Program has hired several former law enforcement professionals, including its Head of Research, Lara Burns, and Senior Fellow, Jennifer Baker, who both recently retired after stellar careers in counterterrorism and counterintelligence with the FBI and who are providing invaluable quality to the Program’s research efforts. They integrate a staff of academics and practitioners that will further expand in the coming months.
Moreover, the Program has crystallized a quadripartite division of its research efforts. The Program now has four branches (Domestic Extremism, Jihadism, Islamism, and Antisemitism), each with a head and a specific research agenda.
Each branch has been engaged in multiple and, at times, overlapping projects. These are some of their highlights.
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Over the last few months, the Program has conducted vitally important research on various forms of domestic extremism. In particular, we published two reports, Christian Identity Reborn: The Evolution and Revitalization of an Antisemitic Theology and From Camps to Computers: Inside the Black Hebrew Israelite Extremist Ecosystem on Facebook, on two extremist movements whose divergent supremacist views coalesce on antisemitism. Moreover, PoE team members provided commentary on stories related to domestic extremism for multiple prominent news outlets, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others.
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On October 9th, the Program released a new report titled Propaganda, Procurement, and Lethal Operations: Iran’s Activities Inside America. The 42,000-word report provides a detailed overview of the longstanding and escalating activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah targeting the United States. The report constitutes the first comprehensive analysis ever conducted of the broad network of U.S.-based organizations, including Islamic centers, schools, and student groups, disseminating Iran’s ideological and political messages. The study also highlighted how some of these entities, which receive various forms of public funding, have direct financial and organizational ties to the Iranian regime. Finally, the report provided a detailed analysis of the more than 140 cases brought by the US government against Hezbollah members on US soil since the group was designated, and examined the Axis of Resistance’s presence in Canada and Latin America.
The Program has also conducted extensive research on Hamas-linked entities inside the United States. Some of these findings are condensed in the congressional testimony by PoE Head of Research Lara Burns before the House Ways and Means Committee during the July 2024 hearing, Fueling Chaos: Tracing the Flow of Tax-Exempt Dollars to Antisemitism. Indicative of the impact of the Program’s research, on September 25th, the Ways and Means Committee issued a formal request to the IRS to revoke the charitable status of several entities that Mrs. Burns had identified in her testimony. In particular, the Ways and Means Committee pointed (see page 78 of the Committee’s statement) to her testimony as the primary source of information on United Hands Relief (UHR), a Texas-based charity suspected of links to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Information provided by the Program during various congressional briefings also features as evidence provided by the Committee against other targeted entities.
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As part of our long-standing commitment to maintaining the attention of policymakers and the general public focused on the still significant threat posed by the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and their affiliates, the Program was the main convenor of the event Countering Terrorism Beyond the Battlefield Achievements, Research, and Future Directions, held in London on October 24th. The event was organized in partnership with the Global Coalition’s Counter Daesh Communications Cell at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King's College London, featuring high-ranking officials from various Western and Middle Eastern governments.
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In May 2024, the Program launched its Antisemitism Research Initiative. The launch took place as part of an international conference on antisemitism after October 7, 2023, organized by the Program at the Milan Shoah Memorial in Milan, Italy, which saw the presence of two dozen policymakers and antisemitism experts from the US, Europe, and the Middle East. The Initiative is led by Dr. Omar Mohammed, a native of Mosul, Iraq, who gained international recognition for his role in bravely documenting ISIS atrocities in his hometown before fleeing it and finding asylum in the West.
Since its launch, the ARI has released various publications and launched 36 Minutes on Antisemitism, a five-season interactive bi-monthly podcast hosted by Dr. Mohammed that explores the contemporary dynamics of antisemitism across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Dr. Mohammed also leads a project on Reviving the Jewish heritage of Mosul and other activities focused on fighting antisemitism in the Arab world, including a forthcoming podcast in Arabic.
These are just some of the activities in which the Program has engaged. As it has done for years, the Program has also conducted training for law enforcement and other stakeholders. In September, for example, the Program conducted two extensive workshops in Virginia and Indiana attended by more than 200 prosecutors and senior law enforcement personnel. The event in Virginia was organized by the Office of the Governor, with the support of Virginia State Police and various local law enforcement agencies. The Attorney General’s office organized the event in Indiana, with AG Todd Rokita speaking alongside PoE director Lorenzo Vidino.
In the coming months, we plan to intensify our production in all four categories of extremism, further reflecting the increasingly diverse challenges posed by radical ideologies. We are thankful for the continued support of donors and stakeholders, which allows us to continue to provide cutting-edge research on the most relevant issues related to all forms of extremism.
We hope that you will support our activities with a donation that can be made here (Direct my gift to—University Initiatives—Program on Extremism).
Thank you
Lorenzo Vidino