Mixed, Unclear and Unstable Extremist Ideologies: A Case Study of Russia’s ‘Male State’

In recent years, counter-terrorism in Europe and the US has faced a new challenge: the emergence of mixed, unclear and unstable extremist ideologies. As FBI Director Christopher Wray has observed, this ‘salad bar extremism’ does not have a structured belief system, instead representing a mix of various and often contradictory ideas (e.g. jihadism and neo-nazism). While some research on this topic has been conducted, it is limited in scope and does not provide a detailed understanding of either the nature of the phenomenon or the reasons for its emergence. This paper aims to address this gap and focuses on a case study of the Male State, a Russian far-right extremist group. The group primarily espoused a misogynistic ideology that is also critical of the Russian state. However, following the Russia-Ukraine war, this paper investigates a change in the group’s ideology. It appears the group is moving away from a misogynistic ideology and is instead primarily focused on espousing an anti-Ukraine/pro-Russian stance. Preliminary analysis of social media posts (namely, Telegram) indicate that the group’s focus has indeed shifted away from misogyny and is moving towards supporting Russian intervention in Ukraine. This also includes a strong anti-Ukrainian stance and a strong pro-Russian stance. This shift appears paradoxical, particularly as the Russian government has classified the Male State as an illegal group and has clamped down on their activities. The paper will continue to gather evidence on this aspect and try to understand why the group has moved in this direction. It also aims to understand the impact of such ideological shifts in extremist groups, particularly in terms of the international community’s ability to understand and respond to the activities of such groups.