Buy THE DARKEST SIDES OF POLITICS 1 | General Books

ABOUT THE BOOK

This book examines a wide array of phenomena that arguably constitute the most noxious, extreme, terrifying, murderous, secretive, authoritarian, and/or anti-democratic aspects of national and international politics. Scholars should not ignore these "dark sides" of politics, however unpleasant they may be, since they influence the world in a multitude of harmful ways.

The first volume in this two-volume collection focuses on the history of underground neo-fascist networks in the post-World War II era; neo-fascist paramilitary and terrorist groups operating in Europe and Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s; and the manipulation of those and other terrorist organizations by the security forces of various states, both authoritarian and democratic. A range of global case studies are included, all of which focus on the lesser known activities of certain secular extremist milieus.

This collection should prove to be essential reading for students and researchers interested in understanding seemingly arcane but nonetheless important dimensions of recent historical and contemporary politics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 1 Introduction: ideologies, extremist ideologies, and terrorist violence

2 Political paranoia versus political realism: on distinguishing between bogus conspiracy theories and genuine conspiratorial politics

3 Postwar neo-fascist internationals, part 1: Nazi escape networks, the Mouvement Social Europeenne, Europaische Neu-Ordnung, and Jeune Europe

4 Postwar "neo-fascist" internationals, part 2: Aginter Presse and the "strategy of tension" in Italy

5 The December 1970 "Borghese coup" in Rome

6 The May 1973 terrorist attack at Milan police HQ: anarchist ‘propaganda of the deed’ or ‘false-flag’ provocation?

7 Concluding thoughts on the terrorist "strategy of tension" in Italy

8 The ultranationalist right in Turkey and the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II

9 ‘National revolutionary’ groupuscules and the resurgence of ‘left-wing’ fascism: the case of France’s Nouvelle Resistance