As with the 2008 financial crisis, such an impact presents an opportunity for far-left and far-right extremists to recruit off the back of legitimate grievances. Coupled with the divisive nature of modern politics, as well as the fact that people are spending more time at home, Western nations are presented with the very real threat of large groups of young people being radicalised by online extremist communities. This paper examines the nature of extremism in the truest sense of the term, and how extremists can use the COVID economy to recruit in the same way they did during and after the 2008 crash, and in other historic recessions.
Read entire Research Paper here: FC-PS232_ExtremistOpp_SP0820_F3
Jack Buckby is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
