Terrorism in Europe

Host Lisa Mullins talks to Dr Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert based in Sweden, about the threat of violence by extremist groups in Europe.

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Lisa Mullins: Dr. Magnus Ranstorp is a terrorist expert based in Sweden.  Dr. Ranstorp, Anders Breivik wrote a 1500 page manifesto as you know.  He’d been in contact with a variety of right wing groups.  Is there any reason that he should have been monitored or is he enough of a loner to remain below the radar and not come up as a potential threat?

Dr. Magnus Ranstorp: You know, I think this is the question that the Norwegian authorities will be asking themselves — was it possible to find this person?  I think that there may be indications that the law enforcement community should’ve perhaps looked out for precursors of getting aluminum powder and so on, which he ordered over the internet.  He was in fact on the radar screens, but they didn’t do anything. The manifesto is a extremely fascinating document.  He leaves everyone wondering was he just alone or was he part of something bigger?  And to some extent he’s already succeeded with his objectives, and that is that everyone is worried, everyone is scared, they don’t know what may come after this.

Mullins: Do you think that there has been too much of a focus on Al Qaeda by security services perhaps throughout Europe more so than for a domestic terrorism threat?

Ranstorp: I mean obviously it’s important to look at all forms of extremism and we shouldn’t forget the left wing extremism.  And we’re seeing some of the manifestations of that down in Greece in the wake of the financial crisis.  And I think we may even see more of that.  But also, it’s sort of puts a new chapter onto what we may expect for the future — lone individuals taking independent action, being aware of how the security services work, and sort of an almost online radicalization.

Mullins: He almost seems to have borrowed some techniques from Al Qaeda even though he proclaims hatred for Islam and for Muslim immigrants.

Ranstorp: Well, he’s not an intellectual giant.  It’s very clear he doesn’t have the capacity.  He copies a lot of the ideology, he buys into ready-made ideology.  He expands on it.  He also has a section in there where he borrows straight from Islamic extremists and Jihadists where you know, and it’s advice of how do you make explosives.  He plagiarizes from the Unabomber.  He mentions also of course, Timothy McVeigh.  I mean he’s the synthesis of everything that you can conceivably gather which is put together in this very disturbing document.

Mullins: On the face of it there seems to have been a resurgence of extremism in Europe, in some cases with political gains as well.  So, does somebody like Anders Behring Breivik add to the interest among those cells of right wing extremism?  Does it make those who might be politicized and have an ideology more violent because of the possible sneaking admiration?  Or, are there moves to distance the ideology from the man?

Ranstorp: Well, most of the established right wing parties that crept into the political sphere, they’re distancing themselves from the violence even though they can sympathize with some of the elements of his ideology. The question I guess is you know, we hope that there are no people crazy enough to claim that they’re acting together with him to do attacks, etc.  I think then it becomes a very disturbing discourse.  The central thing he wants to create is [inaudible 3:24] in society.  And to some extent I think he succeeded in doing the inverse of what he wanted to achieve. And what is happening now is you can see the discourse in European capitals, trying to attach these right wing established parties to his manifesto to being associated with his world view.  And that of course may limit some of the attractiveness of some of these parties, but also may worry and leave a couple to join him you know, in his quest to strike and hit the targets that he lists; and those are in essence all the political parties except for the right wing party.

Mullins: Dr. Ranstorp, thank you.

Ranstorp: My pleasure.

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