Alexander Ritzmann has worked for more than twenty-five years on democracy promotion and the prevention of violent extremism and terrorism. As an expert witness and advisor, he has briefed and advised, among others, the German Bundestag, the European Parliament, and the U.S. House of Representatives.

At the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Berlin, Alexander leads the workstream on analysis and strategies addressing violent right-wing extremist and terrorist transnational networks, both offline and online. His work also focuses on violent antisemitism, violent left-wing extremism, extremism and terrorism financing, and internet regulation, including the EU Digital Services Act, with particular attention to extremist, terrorist, and illegal online content.

Alexander advises the European Commission’s Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation and is a member of its “Ideologies and Conspiracy Narratives” working group. He also lectures on terrorism and extremism financing at the Brandenburg Police University and is a member of the Federal Criminal Police Office’s European Expert Network on Terrorism Issues (EENeT).

Between 2016 and 2024, Alexander served in various roles with the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), the predecessor of the Knowledge Hub. His work there focused in particular on extremist ideologies, narratives, and strategic communication. He co-developed the GAMMMA+ model for effective alternative and counter-narratives, as well as guidance on engaging with conspiracy believers. These tools are used by practitioners across the EU and beyond. From 2016 to 2020, he was a member of the RAN Steering Committee and co-chair of the RAN Working Group on Communication and Narratives.

From 2018 until the project’s conclusion in 2021, Alexander co-designed and facilitated the International Forum for Expert Exchange on Countering Islamist Extremism (InFoEx) at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). From 2010 to 2012 and again from 2017 to 2020, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security (BIGS). At BIGS, he conducted research on the structures of Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. He also led “Integration auf Augenhöhe,” a prevention project funded under the German federal programme “Demokratie leben!”, which focused on value-based dialogue with and among refugees in Germany.

Between 2007 and 2017, Alexander worked with the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels in various capacities. From September 2012 to December 2015, he was based in Cairo, Egypt, where he served as Senior Advisor for the MENA region and Project Manager for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. He has also lived and worked in Berlin, Brussels, Beirut, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Washington, D.C.

Alexander was a DAAD Fellow and non-resident Fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., in 2007 and 2023. From 2001 to 2006, he was a member of the Berlin House of Representatives for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), serving as deputy chair of the FDP parliamentary group and spokesperson on homeland security, intelligence, and data protection. He was also a member of the Council of Elders, the parliamentary body responsible for coordinating and steering parliamentary procedures. In 2004, as the FDP’s representative, he contributed to the successful constitutional reform that strengthened the instruments of direct democracy in Berlin.

Alexander Ritzmann holds a Master's degree (Diplom) in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin, which he completed in 2000.