The Origins of Right-Wing Authoritarianism: Fascism and Radical Islamism.

This paper explores similarities in behavioral characteristics and etiology of European fascism and radical Islamism. Origins of European fascism in the form of proto-fascist models are found not in Italy and Germany, but in Russia at the time of the Russo-Japanese War. Paramilitarism as a source of terror, willingness to kill wantonly and in large numbers, theatricality and appeal to the emotions, an emphasis on unity in opposition to liberalism, and confrontations with modernity all characterize cases of European fascism and Al Qaeda. A common etiology for both includes their origins in war, the experience of loss and the salience of loss born out of extraordinary contrasts within their historical trajectories. A modified Davies J-curve based on recent findings on the consequences of emotional states of being is found to explain the instances of political extremism. Apparent exceptions are explained within the confines of the theoretical framework. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]