{
  "id": 18562781,
  "title": "From incels to rioters: How economic insecurity and psychological alienation have fueled a surge in youth extremism across Europe",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/06/from-incels-to-rioters-how-economic-insecurity-and-psychological",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-06T20:15:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Insider",
    "slug": "the-insider",
    "url": "https://theins.press/en/politics/299189"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Throughout Europe, a surge in youth extremism has been fueled by economic insecurity and psychological alienation, extending beyond traditional forms of extremism such as Islamic fundamentalism. According to researchers, radicalization can occur in two ways: cognitive, where individuals adopt fundamentalist or exclusionary beliefs, and behavioral, involving violence. However, the correlation between cognitive radicalization and actual terrorist behavior is not clear. A 2021 Swiss survey found that young people's agreements with extremist statements were similar to those made by secular far-right and far-left radicals, suggesting that cognitive radicalization alone does not predict terrorist actions.\n\nFar-right extremism among young people in the West has seen a 250% increase between 2014 and 2020, according to the Global Terrorism Index. A concerning trend is that the majority of terrorists acting alone are young individuals, with nearly 92% of terrorist attacks in the past five years being lone wolf incidents. In the UK, arrests for terrorism-related offenses among teenagers have risen from 3% in 2002-03 to 19% in 2023, while in France, minors accounted for 20% of all such cases in 2023. The EU's 2024 data shows that almost one-third of those arrested for terrorism-related offenses were minors or young adults.\n\nTerrorist recruitment methods differ significantly from those that inspire cognitive radicalization. The Islamic State, for example, involved mothers in radicalizing their children, portrayed militants as both brutal and tender to attract males, and presented extreme violence as entertainment through livestreams and execution videos. The Islamic State also integrated violence and apocalyptic themes into school curricula for children and teenagers. Researchers suggest that the emotional brain of adolescents matures faster than the prefrontal cortex responsible for impulse control, making them susceptible to extremist ideologies that offer absolute certainty. The spread of emotionally charged content on social media platforms and the formation of isolating online communities have expedited radicalization processes, which have shortened from 18 months in 2005 to just a few weeks as of 2026.",
  "summary": "The radical youth protests now taking place in several European countries are part of broader social shifts that experts have been observing for years. The sharpest rise has been in far-right extremism, which increased by approximately 250% between 2014 and 2020, even if the pace of growth has slowed. Meanwhile, the 2025 Global Terrorism Index shows that the number of politically motivated…",
  "key_points": [
    "Economic insecurity and psychological alienation fuel youth extremism across Europe.",
    "Cognitive radicalization alone does not predict terrorist actions.",
    "Young individuals account for nearly 92% of terrorist attacks in the past five years."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}