“... The people who have been in prison so far cannot therefore be described as prisoners or detainees. "They are hostages of the regime," says Schindler, who now heads the Counter Extremism Project, a think tank that focuses on terrorism. Ultimately, the Iranians are not interested in giving the German detainees a fair trial, but rather in convicting them on flimsy evidence in order to use them as political bargaining chips. This was also the case with Helmut Hofer. "The Iranians' idea was to exchange him for the terrorist Darabi and his accomplices," says Schindler. Kazem Darabi was the mastermind behind the Mykonos attack in Berlin, in which four Kurdish politicians in exile were killed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Germany did not allow itself to be blackmailed by Iran.” 

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Shawcross has now disagreed publicly. The Home Office had, he said, ‘ignored’ key recommendations to beef up Prevent’s performance and the glass remained only ‘half full.’ I have some experience of bureaucratic sleight of hand at work when it comes to reviews and recommendations. When I was tasked by the Government to look into the Prison Service’s colossal and unforgivable failures in containing Islamist extremism a few years ago, I made 69 recommendations which were mysteriously repurposed into 11 without my consent; eight were finally accepted."

CEP Senior Research Analyst Sofia Koller interviewed regarding ISIS, women and children in Syria, and returnees. 

The active clubs are part of a larger international far-right movement, focusing on strength training and martial arts. The concept has spread quickly and is now present in at least 20 countries with over 100 groups globally and in most US states, according to the organization The Counter Extremism Project.

The Counter Extremism Project describes the Animal Liberation Front as "a far-left extremist group focused on animal rights" that was formed in the 1970s in the United Kingdom. It now operates in 40 countries and has "claimed responsibility for arson and vandalism against animal research facilities, farms, restaurants, and other businesses," the group says.

In this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler, the senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, said there are three major concerns in regards to the growing threat of global terrorism.

CEP Senior Advisor Prof. Ian Acheson writes: Today’s terrorist threat is more diverse and unpredictable than in 2005. Our resilience against violent extremism is hollowed out by institutional timidity. We still face tactical, technical and operational obstacles hampering disaster response. While Islamist extremism is supported by a tiny fraction of Muslims, virulent anti-Semitism has taken hold within and animates hatreds, the precursor for domestic terrorism, from events thousands of miles away. These challenges require a strong response, putting country before political calculation or progressive distractions.

CEP Senior Advisor Prof. Ian Acheson writes: Bear in mind these dead, I can find no plainer words,’ wrote the Northern Irish poet John Hewitt reflecting on the Troubles’s terrible death toll. How we remember the victims of terrorism and articulate the harm it causes comes to mind today, the 20th anniversary of the 7/7 Islamist attack on London’s transport network. The bombings killed 52 commuters and sentenced hundreds more to a life without limbs, eyes or peace of mind.

The so-called activist clubs, in which a young close relative of a minister was active, have grown rapidly in Sweden. Alexander Ritzmann, senior advisor at the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin, has mapped the movement from its beginnings in the United States.