Talks, Lectures, and Events
Recent Talks, Invited Lectures, and Conference Panels on Extremism, Conflict, and Disinformation. Podcasts and Media available below or on video sharing platforms
In this episode of the Tech Against Terrorism Podcast, Broderick McDonald examines the growth and development of far-right Active Clubs, one of the fastest growing extremist groups in the United States, Canada, and Europe. With more than 104 cells worldwide, Active Clubs have a broad geographic footprint and are risk of disrupting elections in the US, UK, and Canada given their previous involvement with political violence such during the Unite Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and intimidation campaigns during electoral debates. In the episode, we discuss how far-right extremist groups have threatened elections and undermined democratic processes.
You can find a full transcript of the conversation here: https://share.descript.com/view/Ev0oG03R91v
Broderick McDonald (Oxford / Kings College London)
Archie Macfarlane (Tech Against Terrorism)
Listen to the full podcast below:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3sSWoFLWwg
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EdFPYi9ehb8WmKHPXm1Fd
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-against-terrorism/id1481039245?uo=4
Learn more: https://podcast.techagainstterrorism.org/1684819/14864219-active-clubs-fitness-fraternity-and-fascism
AI, Disinformation, and Parliament Conference
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Broderick McDonald will speak at the CPA Secretariat's Conference on AI, Disinformation, and Parliament next week. Register below to join online or in-person at Richmond House: https://www.cpahq.org/conference-on-the-4ir-2023/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_campaign=4ir_conference_2023
Broderick McDonald (Oxford / International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
Jack Hardcastle (CPA Secretariat)
4-6 December 2023
Oxford Generative AI Summit
University of Oxford
Broderick McDonald spoke about Generative AI, Disinformation, and Extremism at the Oxford GenAI Summit on October 21-22 2023 at the Cheng Kar Shek Digital Hub, Jesus College, University of Oxford.
The OxGenAI Summit is a multi-stakeholder expert convening hosted at Jesus College, University of Oxford to dive deep into the use cases, implications, and future of generative AI & society. Insights from business and AI leaders, technical experts, & policy experts from the UK and beyond
Broderick McDonald (Kings College London, Associate Fellow)
Dina Hussein (Meta, Head of Counter Terrorism)
Adam Hadley (Tech Against Terrorism, Director)
Rayhan Asat (Atlantic Council, Senior Fellow)
Watch the full panel presentation below on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spkyFDcCQ0Q
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Leadership & National Security
Aspen Institute UK
Broderick McDonald will facilitate an Aspen Institute UK discussion with Darren Boyling, Senior Advisor at the FCDO's National Security Directorate.
What are the implications of what governments say publicly and what happens behind the scenes? What is the UK’s relationship – and impact – in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States, China, and NATO? What is the balance of power between public and private infrastructure? What is the effect of the press on foreign policy? How does AI play into all of this? How does good leadership affect foreign policy? These are just some of the areas that this discussion will explore.
Leadership & National Security will be led by Darren Boyling, a Senior State Threats Adviser working for the Joint Funds Unit and is currently attached the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s National Security Directorate. Darren provides advice on programming and understanding state threats and is building the FCDO’s global state threats network. He was previously Head of Strategic Communications in the HMG Russia Unit in the FCDO. Over the past 20 years he has worked on various international development and national security issues including whilst posted in Ethiopia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia.
Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel Podcast
Orion Policy Institute, Washington DC
In this episode of OrionTalks, Broderick McDonald and Guy Fiennes join host Suat Cubukcu to discuss the Wagner Group's expanding relations in the Sahel region and its potential impact on the security and stability of the region.
They delve into the specific roles undertaken by the Wagner Group, examining their economic and political motivations, as well as the implications of their involvement in countering rebels and insurgency in the region. Additionally, they assess the Russian government's interest in Wagner's activities and explore potential measures the international community can take to address these concerning developments.
Broderick McDonald is an expert on countering extremism, terrorism, and disinformation with more than 10 years of experience across government, academia, and international organizations. He is an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and a Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Oxford. Broderick previously served as a Policy Advisor to the Government of Canada and a researcher with the Non-Partisan Parliamentary Group for Genocide Prevention. Prior to this, he was a Fellow with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and an Assistant Editor of the Perspectives on Terrorism Journal. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and an Associate Member of Chatham House.
Guy Fiennes is an OSINT analyst and Aspen UK Rising Leaders Fellow. He is interested in the MENA region and extremism and is currently employed at the NATO and The Global Enduring Disorder Project.
Listen to the podcast here: https://www.orionpolicy.org/orionforum/193/broderick-mcdonald-guy-fiennes-wagner-groups-expanding-footprint-in-sahel
Peace, Conflict, and Terrorism Seminar
CCSF / Canada House
The CCSF / Maple Leaf Trust hosted an online seminar covering Peace, Conflict, and Terrorism on Monday, 28th March 2022. Three CCSF scholars were invited to present their research on different aspects of governing on/offline extremism, gender and extremism, and migration, economics, and public opinion in Germany. You can watch each of our speakers here on YouTube. If you would like to be invited to future CCSF events, please Contact Us for more information and to sign up.
Founded in 1967, the CCSF has awarded some major scholarships to outstanding students from across Canada who are enrolled in postgraduate and doctoral programmes at UK universities, colleges, institutes or conservatories. Recipients are chosen on the basis of academic excellence, as well as on their ability to represent Canada within the UK as future leaders. They represent a wide breadth of academic interests and pursuits and are invited to present their research at events, seminars, and workshops throughout the academic year.
Brody McDonald (CCSF Scholar 2021-22), DPhil/PhD Candidate at University of Oxford gave a fascinating talk on “Rebel Competition: How Non-State Actors Consolidate within Civil Wars”, highlighting how extremist rebel groups compete, govern territory, and exploit new technologies within a multi-party civil conflict.
Isabelle Lemay (CCSF Scholar 2021-22), DPhil/PhD Candidate in International Development, University of Oxford, talked about her timely research on the politics of refugee reception in countries of the Global North -“Theorizing moments of openness towards refugees: The case of Germany during the 2015-2016 refugee crises”, noting how similar politics could be extended to the current Ukrainian refugee crisis.
Yannick Veilleux-Lepage (CCSF Scholar 2015-16, 2016-17), Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Political Violence, Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University, discussed “Women on Online Extremist Forums” explaining how the creation of online narratives and propaganda fosters or normalizes terrorism.
Terrorism & Social Media Conference 2022
Hilary Rodham Clinton School of Law
The Impact of Studying Online Extremism on Researchers’ Mental Health: Mitigating and Overcoming the Challenges
•Broderick McDonald (University of Oxford)
•Stevie Voogt (Moonshot CVE)
•Dr Lizz Pearson (Royal Holloway, University of London)
•Olivier Cauberghs (University of St Andrews)
Researchers who face repeated exposure to extremist content are at significantly higher risk of developing symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression. While these symptoms become more acute the more time a researcher spends exposed to this content, complete avoidance of this material is often not an option, especially for early career researchers. To address this issue, this breakout session will facilitate a discussion of the mental health challenges associated with researching extremist content, as well as offer practical insights and advice from clinical psychology to mitigate these risks.
The panel will explore new research on this topic and practical interventions to reduce the risks to researchers and practitioners, as well as the broader systemic issues involved. Broader systemic changes can include greater use of automated and quantitative methodologies to review and analyse content, allocating greater funding for mental health training, developing peer support networks, learning from other professions such as law enforcement who are required to view and analyse graphic content. All of these approaches are intended to work in tandem and the issue cannot be fully addressed with only one tool. Despite its importance for academics, think-tankers, and employees of technology firms, this issue is rarely discussed or even acknowledged. Ignoring or avoiding the mental health challenges associated with researching extremist content is dangerous and can lead to more severe symptoms and outcomes. As such, this breakout sessions seeks to tackle one of the most difficult but important challenges to studying terrorism on social media and provide real support to researchers in this field. This session addresses one of the most serious and limiting issues facing researchers studying online extremism from a variety of different angles and perspectives.
Global Leadership Initiative Conference, Rhodes House (Oxford, UK)
The Global Leadership Initiative (an OCP programme) hosted its annual conference at Rhodes House (University of Oxford) in June 2023. Three doctoral candidates (Broderick McDonald, Serene Singh, Artemis Brown) who previously participated in the GLI spoke about next generation leadership and what this means in an increasingly digital, interconnected age where uncertainty abounds.
You can watch the full conference proceedings on our website: https://oxfordcharacter.org/events/conference-character-culture-and-leadership-in-uk-business
About:
This conference marks the culmination of three years of research on perceptions of good leadership in UK Businesses and we will be bringing together around 100 researchers, research partners from a range of business sectors (including finance, technology, and law), and other representatives of firms and industry bodies.
The aim of the event is to share research, conceptual ideas, and practical perspectives to inform professional practice and to launch the next phase of Oxford research—a collaborative initiative joining research, education, and practice on “The Future of Business Leadership. In conjunction with the Said Business School and Department of Politics & International Relations, we have been undertaking a major research project investigating the role of character, culture, and leadership in UK business, and more than 50 businesses have been involved as research partners. This event is part of an ongoing initiative to bring research and practice together to explore and advance character-based and purpose-driven leadership in UK business. It will be a great opportunity for a wider audience to learn more about the cutting-edge research happening in this project and join our new initiatives as we move forward.
