A recent report by the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the research organization Counter Extremism Project (CEP) entitled "West Africa's Terrorist Challenge" describes West Africa as a global hinge for Hezbollah financing. The system works via money laundering through import-export companies and foreign exchange offices. Added to this are revenues from drug trafficking, smuggling and criminal diamond deals. For example, cash from cocaine sales is collected in West Africa and invested elsewhere in consumer goods or cars, which are then exported to the region. The proceeds are brought to Beirut in cash or forwarded via the informal hawala transfer system. In the USA, this process ran under the code name "Project Cassandra", write the authors of the KAS/CEP report.

According to the Counter Extremism Project, Redneck Revolt is a far-left, pro-gun group and an offshoot of the John Brown Gun Club, which recently made headlines by recruiting members with posters celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Redneck Revolt is a gun club described by the Counter Extremism Project as a “far-left group” that “stands against capitalism and the concept of the nation-state, including its symbols such as police, prisons, and courts.”

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed on the situation in Syria and ISIS returnees in Germany. “More than 1,100 Germans joined the IS terrorist militia in Syria or Iraq. After the collapse of the caliphate, 472 returned. These returnees are under special surveillance by the security authorities; some have been convicted. The greatest threat comes from radicalized IS fighters still in Kurdish prisons. If IS succeeds in freeing prisoners, they could enter Germany. Returnees are often traumatized; some are no longer radicalized, others potentially dangerous. The police treat each case individually. So far, there have been no attacks by returnees; known IS attacks were mostly carried out by radicalized individuals in Germany.”

The Counter Extremism Project lists Redneck Revolt as an offshoot of the John Brown Gun Club, which has been involved in at least two violent attacks at ICE facilities, one in Washington in 2019 and another on July 4 in Alvarado, Texas. The club posted recruitment flyers on Georgetown University's campus on Wednesday.

Redneck Revolt, described by the Counter Extremism Project as a "far-left" gun club, rejects capitalism and the nation-state, often deploying armed members to protests and claiming to shield left-wing activists from "fascist" or "white supremacist" opponents. Dixon faced multiple charges after allegedly attending protests in Durham and Charlottesville in 2017, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, though charges were later dropped.  He was also charged with assault during the 2018 toppling of UNC’s Silent Sam statue, a case that was later dismissed, according to WRAL.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in particular, plays a key role in Tehran's covert dealings. "An Iranian company or an Iranian businessman can buy a company in one of the UAE's free trade zones that is set up there for a transaction," Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Berlin-based think tank Counter Extremism Project, told our editorial team. "It has a managing director, a board of directors, and is subject to regular auditing. It's a completely legal company, but after the transaction is completed, this 'overnight company' is dissolved."

Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed regarding Russian drones disrupting air travel in Denmark. 

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed for segment: Drones were again circling Danish airports yesterday evening and overnight. Who sent them is still unclear. But Copenhagen is certain that hybrid warfare is behind it. NATO is taking the situation very seriously, according to its Secretary General Rutte. And while Germany wants to invest more in drone defense, the Defense Minister sees Russia behind the attack.

Two days after the  drone sightings in Copenhagen and Oslo, Denmark reported further drone sightings at several airports in the country. The Danish government and German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt are calling it a  "hybrid attack ." Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen stated that it appears to be the work of a professional actor. The drones appeared simultaneously in several locations and  disrupted air traffic in Aalborg and, previously, in Copenhagen. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously described the attacks as  "the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date." Hans-Jakob Schindler is a security expert at the Counter Extremism Project. In this podcast, he explains who might be behind it and why Denmark, of all places, was targeted.